You Can't Always Get What You Want
by lovelyeleanor
Summary: Hot on the heels of a case involving a violent killer whose target is pregnant women, killing them only for their babies, Dee Laytner, Randy Maclean, Drake Parker, and JJ Adams are assigned to put a stop to the violent crimes committed. Unfortunately, the case is only a reminder of their own predicaments. Mpreg story! D/R, D/J
1. The First Victim

Author's Notes: Hello everyone, welcome to my little FAKE story :) this is my first time writing fanfiction in a long time and this is my first time ever writing FAKE fanfiction, so we'll see how it goes! I am fairly confident in this story, so hopefully I'll be able to get a good bit of it done before school starts up again:) This is an mpreg story (where guys get pregnant), so if you're not into that, don't read any further! I will try to keep this story as medically accurate as possible, which is easy for me with my interest in biology, but as for keeping the criminal/police part of the story correct will take some research, so please forgive me if I screw something up!

Disclaimer: FAKE and its characters belong to Sanami Matoh, I am not making any money off of this work! I own the Cook family and the plot idea, that's all.

* * *

It was about 4 o' clock in the afternoon when the officers, clad in their freshly dry-cleaned suits and moussed-up hair, arrived on the scene, at a hotel nine blocks away from the location of the precinct. Randy Maclean, known best by his nickname Ryo, was walking swiftly ahead of his partner Dee Laytner, who moved with lackluster confidence. Sure, it was better than paperwork, but it still wasn't always a great time sorting out the details of a murder.

Approaching the front desk of the hotel, Ryo pulled out his badge for identification and flashed it at the desk clerk. "NYPD, we're here to investigate the murder," he told the man, who was dressed well enough for the luxurious atmosphere of the hotel, "could you please tell us which room number we should go to?"

"Yes, room 107, it's on the fifth floor," responded the clerk, who looked a little weary, small bags forming visibly under his eyes. Ryo suspected that he was being kept here by the chief, as he was the one who had alerted 911 after one of the cleaning ladies had gone off to do her job and found more than she bargained for.

Ryo thanked the man and resumed his fast pace, making his way into the hallway with printed beige wallpaper and floor plants everywhere, with a certain amount of space between each one. He pressed the elevator button and it went ding in response, opening up its heavy doors and letting him go inside.

"Come on, hurry up, Dee. You're going to make me have to press the button again," Ryo chastised his partner, impatiently waiting as he slowly sulked inside.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry I don't run on a battery like you do," Dee told him, slumping against the banister lining the elevator walls as the door came to an automatic shut and went ding again.

"Did you not get enough sleep last night? You seem so out of it today," Ryo asked him, the slightest hint of concern in his eyes present to Dee, making him happy on the inside.

"The guys and I went out last night. You know, standard 'let's complain about our problems and get wasted' night, like usual. And you're one to talk about sleep! I've caught you dozing off at your desk more than once this week!"

Feeling heat rush to his cheeks, Ryo felt embarrassed that Dee had to bring up his increased fatigue that had been plaguing him lately. "Yeah, I guess I have been really tired lately…to tell you the truth, I haven't been feeling great at all. Maybe I'm coming down with something."

"Ooh, maybe Doctor Dee could help you out with that!" Dee said, and was immediately about to go into pounce mode before the elevator gave one last ding and opened, revealing a red-carpeted hallway adorned with nice light fixtures and what seemed to be millions of doors.

"Come on, Dee, we have work to do," Ryo reminded him, going forward and walking towards the police officers he could see near the end of the long hallway. Sighing, Dee trotted behind him, wondering if he would ever get another good moment alone with his boyfriend.

After what seemed like an eternity, although it was more or less two years, Dee and Ryo had finally made it official and started dating. It was bound to happen eventually, with Dee's constant pursuit of Ryo and Ryo never exactly denying Dee's affections, and when it finally happened between them, it took no time at all for the entire precinct to find out. While most just treated the announcement with groans and overall acceptance, the only one who took it poorly was JJ. He had pined over Dee for years to no avail, and now that Dee was a for sure taken man, he had no choice but to give up his pursuit. He didn't take it easily, however, still getting in the occasional Dee tackle or directing a glare towards Ryo.

Which is exactly why Dee stayed well behind Ryo as soon as he saw lavender-haired JJ in front of the hotel door, speaking to the chief. His partner, Drake Parker, was leaning on the white door frame, clutching at his head in anguish.

But despite JJ's usual motives, this time even as he clearly saw Dee, he made no move towards him. Actually, as Dee got closer to him, he noticed that JJ didn't look so hot either, appearing slightly paler than normal. He had his head down facing the floor, holding onto his gray vest that covered his blue dress shirt, which was no doubt from some high end designer. Drake was dressed a little haphazardly, with a jacket and pants that weren't matching and a shirt that wasn't entirely tucked in. Dee suspected he wasn't in tip-top shape after last night, what with Ted harassing him to take more shots than was probably necessary. At least he knew how to control himself, Dee thought to himself with a smirk.

"It's about time you idiots got here," their grumpy chief told them, a cigarette chomped between his lips, despite the hotel's no smoking policy. "Come on, we've got a lot of work to do. Adams, fill 'em in."

"We got a call about an hour ago, the body of a young woman was found in her room, she was in her mid-twenties, name's Bethany Cook…" JJ told them in an incredibly quiet voice, causing Ryo and Dee to lean forward in order to hear him.

"Jesus, what's the matter with you today?" the chief asked him, glaring at all four of them in a way that showed how extremely pissed he appeared at Ryo and Dee's lateness, JJ's behavior and Drake's obvious hung over state.

"We'll just go ahead and have a look then," Ryo told him nervously, trying to avoid an argument. He slid into the hotel room and he saw the markings carefully left behind by the criminal scene investigators, demonstrating where certain pieces of evidence were obtained. Dee followed him in, not wanting to be a part of the chief's rage either.

"Dee, look at this," Ryo said in awe as he navigated the room carefully, but was now fixated on a certain spot. When Dee saw what he was looking at, he couldn't help but gawk either.

There was one giant blood stain on the beige colored carpet, followed by several smaller puddles. Blood was also on the bed and the nightstand, and some of it had even hit the walls. The other side of the room looked like it came straight out of a catalogue for a high-end department store compared to this side.

"Jeez, this was a real bloody affair, wasn't it? What the hell happened?" Dee asked looking around the room just in time for Drake to enter. He looked no better than he had just three minutes earlier, still in obvious pain and even worse off after being yelled at by the chief.

"I don't know what the hell's wrong with JJ, but I know I'm as hung over as fuck," Drake told them, sighing as he leaned against the perfectly pristine white wall. "Anyway, the victim, like JJ sort of said, name's Bethany Cook. We found ID in the room, hotel manager confirmed it. She was 27, staying by herself according to the books, and very pregnant, according to staff. The theory is her killer stabbed her repeatedly and then cut into her womb, taking the baby. There certainly wasn't one here, but you should search the hotel or the dumpsters behind it."

"Anything on the perp?" Ryo asked, examining the extent of the blood stains.

"Nothing. People we've talked to said they didn't see her come into her room, so he might've been with her while she did. We can't really be sure until we interview some more staff."

"Is it for sure she died of blood loss though?" Dee questioned, his hands on his hips as he played around with the case in his mind.

"Nope. We won't know 'till the autopsy comes in. For now though, it's the likely speculation. No weapons were found behind, in fact, nothing out of the ordinary at all-no drugs, no meds, a credit card that belonged to her, but that's it. Likely one of those psycho baby snatchers."

"Well thanks, Drake," Ryo said, patting him on the shoulder as he took in the information. "You and JJ should call NCMEC and issue an Amber Alert for the child, and I guess Dee and I'll go and do some searching and interviewing."

"Have fun with that," Drake responded glumly, giving Dee a look that read 'save me' before he walked out the room. In response, Dee stuck his tongue out at him.

As Dee and Ryo made their way out of the room, they noticed JJ sitting down on the pretty wine-red carpet, while the chief told him, "Just go ahead and go home for the day, you look like shit." As soon as he noticed the pair behind him, he turned around and said, "You guys better be working!"

"Aye aye, captain!" Dee responded enthusiastically, clapping his partner on the back at the same time. "We'll get this baby back and find that lame asshole who stole it in no time! Just leave it to us!"

"Dee, knock it off," Ryo said coldly, stepping away from his partner and folding his arms. "We won't let you down, sir."

"Good, you better not. Especially with this moron-" he indicated, pointing to JJ, "-and that moron-" he said, pointing inside the room to Drake, "-being so damn useless today. I swear, flu's going around already. Ain't even winter yet."

Dee and Ryo left as quickly as possible, wanting to avoid getting on his bad side. As soon as they were alone, Dee turned to Ryo and said, "Man, how weird was that? Especially JJ. The little freak is always on me, no matter what! He must be really sick to act that civilized."

"I think I like him better this way," Ryo said, refusing to look at Dee as he knew the reaction that was coming.

Dee smiled wide, loving whenever Ryo showed possessiveness towards him. "Aw, baby, there's no need to be jealous. My eyes are set on you…and damn, do you look fine!"

"Dee! We're on the job right now, can't this wait until we get home?" Ryo demanded, pushing his partner off of him and brushing off his wrinkled suit.

Dee looked at his partner in an overdramatic angst, but he gave in knowing that as soon as they were home, maybe Ryo would comply with his every want. "Fine, fine. But you better be ready, because this machine is ready to plow!"

Ryo just blushed and looked away from him once more. If only he had chosen a more soft-spoken partner…

* * *

"Jesus, that sucked!" Dee called loud enough to be irritating, but not loud enough as to completely piss Ryo off. "I hate digging through dumpsters to find crap, but I hate it even more when we don't find anything! We shouldn't have even had to look anyway, what kinda guy kills the lady, takes her baby, and then dumps it right afterwards?"

"Maybe if he felt guilty?" Ryo suggested, setting his jacket down on the edge of his couch, right above where he had put his briefcase. After a long day of searching and investigating, they had no real leads on who the killer could possibly be. Disgruntled, Ryo returned home, with a hapless and horny Dee following him.

"Doubt it. Anyway, what did you say earlier, on the ride over?" Dee asked him, letting himself fall into the couch cushions gratefully, while Ryo strode over to his diminutive kitchen in order to cook dinner for the two of them. "Something about one more interview?"

"Yes, we're going to her parents house tomorrow to talk to them, see if they've noticed anything. Drake said he managed to get a hold of them, and they live right in the city, in the Bronx."

"Ugh. Seriously, today sucked. All I want to do is take a nap."

"Me too, now that I think of it…" Ryo said, yawning as he filled a pot with water to boil. "But I'm glad that you came over tonight, Dee. It's been a little lonely, with Bikky at camp this week and all."

"Oh, I get what you're trying to tell me," Dee said with a smile on his face, suddenly reenergized and up, making his way to the kitchen to snake his arms around his partner. "You want some lovin' from Dee, don't you?"

"Dee, I-" Ryo started, but was abruptly cut off as Dee grabbed his face gently with one hand and brought him in close, pressing their lips together with a fiery passion that Ryo had never experienced with any women before. It was one of his favorite parts about Dee-his forwardness and expertise. Ryo was a man who could certainly handle himself, but he was still new to the idea of being gay, and it was Dee who was helping him to slowly bring out the things that finally felt so right to him.

But as much as he wanted to give in to Dee's passion and make love through the night like they usually did, a wave of fatigue was swept over him, and he couldn't help but want nothing more than to sleep. He didn't even feel hunger, and he was starting to realize how strange it was to feel like this. He pushed Dee away gently and said, "Dee, I know you want to, but I just…I'm so tired. I don't feel like it tonight."

Dee was disgruntled by Ryo's denial of him, but as soon as he saw his tired face, he knew that he was, unfortunately, telling the truth. "Jeez, baby. You're always so tired," he said in a low voice, as if not to hurt him despite the fact that he wasn't hurt. "Maybe you should go see a doctor."

"That's probably not a bad idea, but it's not a good time. With the case we're working on now, even with Drake and JJ, I have a feeling we'll be pulling overtime this week."

"Come on, Ryo, you've got to think about yourself a little bit. Hell, I always put myself first."

Ryo rolled his eyes at that last part. "I know," he said, turning around to look at the boiling water for a second. "Can you make yourself dinner tonight? I really just want to sleep."

Dee nodded before giving Ryo another kiss, to which he returned sleepily. "Get some rest, and you better call the doctor tomorrow, or else I'll call him for you!"

"I will, I promise," Ryo said with a smile, detangling himself from Dee's arms and heading off in the direction of his bedroom.

Dee watched him walk off and couldn't help but worry more than a little bit. Ryo's strange sleeping patterns had now made their presence for a few weeks, and no matter how much sleep Ryo tried to get in the day, it seemed to make no difference. Dee sighed, hoping it was only something minor-and one that would stop negatively affecting his sex life soon.

* * *

The two detectives now found themselves walking along the sidewalk, making their way towards the apartment building which housed Marvin and Charlotte Cook, Bethany's retired parents. Ryo and Dee were prepared to see grieving faces and choked up sentences as soon as they arrived.

On the way there, as they walked past endless brown and gray buildings and just as many people, they maintained a nonchalant conversation, which only ended when Dee said, "So did you call your doctor today or what?"

Even though it was a simply answered question, Ryo blushed a little bit. He knew Dee really cared about him, but he found it to be a bit much at times. "Yes, Dee, I did. You'll be happy to know that I'll be going to the doctor this Saturday. I'm sure the chief won't be as pleased with it, though…"

"To hell with the badger!" Dee exclaimed, putting an arm around Ryo, who immediately shrugged it off. "He's yelled at me for worse than going to the doctor, I'm sure you, Mr. Goody Two-Shoes, will get away with it.

"Well, I hope you're right. Oh, isn't this the place?" Ryo said, pointing at an apartment building with green handrails adorning the sides of the stairs, accompanied by a matching forest green door. They made their way up the stairs, only to make their way up many more stairs to the very top of the apartment, to the penthouse suite.

"How loaded are these people?" Dee exclaimed while knocking on the door, earning a dirty look from Ryo in the process.

A woman dressed in a black Chanel woman's suit opened the door, looking the detectives up and down before giving them a small smile with her small and wrinkled mouth. She had dyed blonde hair that was short and curled tightly, lipstick smeared across her lips, and earrings that gave off sparkles in sunlight. "Welcome, detectives, I'm Mrs. Cook. My husband is waiting in the living room. I'm so sorry, but I don't think I caught your names over the phone."

"Oh, our other lead detectives were the ones who contacted you, not us," Ryo told her politely, graciously shaking her hand. Dee did the same, trying to make a good impression. "My name is Randy Maclean, and this is Dee Laytner."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. Please come in. I hope this won't take very long, on account of we have many errands to attend to," she said with a slight choking sound on the end of her sentence, and both men assumed she meant funeral plans.

"Not long at all, just a few questions to fill in the blanks is all," Dee informed her, striding in along with Ryo, and as they both made their way to the living room, they saw the man who was Mr. Cook, who looked visibly depressed.

"Marvin, honey, these men, Randy and Dee, they're the detectives on the case. Not the ones on the phone, however."

He looked up at her with such disinterest it was almost painful. He had a moustache of white hair that was finely trimmed but not too obsolete, and he was dressed just as nicely as his wife was. "Who were the men on the phone then? They didn't seem like officers at all."

Charlotte looked at Dee and Ryo and nodded. "They had very strange voices, we were almost concerned it wasn't the real NYPD."

Ryo gave a nervous smile as he tried to explain. "That was Detective Drake Parker and Detective JJ Adams, and I apologize on their behalf, but neither of them were feeling well yesterday, that probably explains what you must've heard in their voices."

"I apologize then, it was just rather odd. Then again, we haven't dealt with the police in a few months, so who knows."

They all took their places on the fine, eggshell white upholstery, complemented but a zigzag patterned black and white rug on the wooden floors. "You have previous police encounters?" Ryo asked in suspicion.

"Oh, just a restraining order we filed, that's all. We're law abiding citizens, I promise."

"Got it," Ryo said, making note to run background checks on them later, "So your daughter Bethany, can you tell us about her?"

Charlotte gave off a small smile triggered by memories of her daughter. "She was our only child, and she was a very happy one…she excelled in school, she was a wonderful horseback rider and piano player…she was always so good. She associated herself with good people. And she loved to help people, too. She went on two missions to Africa, I can't remember where, dear, do you remember?"

"Zimbabwe," Marvin said softly, suddenly reaching for a handful of tissues that were laid on the glass coffee table, as memories had brought him back to reality.

"She sounds great," Dee said, trying to sound sympathetic. "Now, about her pregnancy. That's what we need to know about. Do you know how far along she was?"

"She was due to give labor in just three weeks," her mother said, now taking her turn to reach for the tissues. "That's why she was moving back here, from Albany. She moved about nine months ago and was coming back because she didn't want to handle the pressure of being a parent alone."

"Was she married, or was the father present?" Ryo asked, carefully jotting down notes.

This emitted a sniffle out of both of them. "No, no. It was an unplanned thing…you know how it is. We didn't know the guy, and she only knew him briefly."

"Do you know anyone who you believe would have the motive to commit this crime?"

They both shook their head no, and tears began to run down her father's face. This was obviously painful for them; how can one day, your only daughter, who you've been planning to see your grandchild from for months, just be gone? And the baby too?

"Do you know anything else that might be helpful to us? Or do you have any questions?"

Again, they both shook their heads. Ryo and Dee knew that they should probably leave them to grieve now, before they became more emotional.

"Thank you for your time," Ryo said, standing and shaking their hands, which they requited half-heartedly.

"We'll be sure to call you with any updates," Dee said as they were shown out of the apartment, and Mrs. Cook could only nod and try to smile in order to hide her pain.

As the men walked out of the apartment and back onto the street, resuming their trek to the parking garage, Dee said, "Man, how shitty do you think they feel? I mean, if you and I ever had a kid together, and one day they just up and died…I don't know what I'd do."

"We already have a kid together," Ryo said, an annoyed facial expression plastered on his face, "we have Bikky, don't you recall?"

"You know what I mean," Dee said, just as irritated, gently hitting him on the arm.

"Well, I don't think we'll ever be in that situation."

"What, you don't want to have a kid with me ever?" Dee asked, now pouting like a child.

"That's not what I meant, but I just…you know, I probably can't get pregnant. Most men can't," Ryo told him, looking in the opposite direction as Dee in order to avoid his telling gaze.

"Hey, never say never, baby. Besides, you won't know until it happens!"

Ryo tried to laugh, but he almost couldn't. The thought of actually having a child hadn't yet crossed his mind. Before he realized he was gay, he had always just dumbfoundedly assumed that he would get married and he and his wife would have kids. Now he was faced with the thought that if he were to have biological kids with Dee, one of them would have to get pregnant, which was unlikely due to the fact that male pregnancy was only possible through an estimated less than half of the population, and in order for it to even happen, you would have to be having sex with another male at the exact time your body just wanted to make a baby. The odds were so stacked against them. Yet, other couples made it happen.

For now, his potential baby wasn't important, but Bethany Cook's was. So as he and Dee approached the car, he decided to try to focus all of his attention on the case, in order to bring the devastated parents a grandchild they had waited years to see. That is, if he could stay awake.

* * *

Author's Notes: NCMEC stands for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who send out alerts for infants and children who are, well, missing or exploited. Also, sorry if I have completely butchered NYC, but I don't live there and it's been a long time since I've been, so forgive me! Stay tuned for chapter two! xx


	2. With Pity Comes Consequences

Author's Notes: Hi everyone! Back for chapter two of this little story :) well it's not really little haha…anyway update on my life if anyone cares, my internet died but I fixed it all by myself, without having to call the guys and complain, I'm so proud :) this chapter is much lighter than the last one! Even I was getting depressed…but it will get much more intense as it goes on! Dun dun dun…

Excuse my crappy police/NYC knowledge, once again! Sorry, sorry, sorry…and I do not own FAKE, Sanami Matoh does, I only own the Cooks and a guy you'll meet in here briefly named Cesar, and a doctor, and a lady named Andrea, and the plot! That was a lot. And that rhymed. Anyway, the story! Read on loves!

* * *

The rush of air that flew straight into his face as he opened the door of the men's bathroom didn't alleviate his nausea anymore, and it made him feel even woozier, if that was even possible. Detective Jemmy J Adams, known by his coworkers as JJ, usually checked to see if he was alone, because he really didn't want to cause suspicion about his illness, but today he couldn't be bothered to care. He ran into the first open stall and was barely able to lock the door shut before turning around and vomiting into the not very hygienic toilet at the precinct.

In between waves of throwing up, JJ lifted his head up to try to breathe in clean air deposited by the vents, which were akin to his life recently; shitty. He was desperately single for one thing; ever since Dee and Ryo made it official, JJ had to remain classy and try to not sabotage their relationship, but it was incredibly hard for him. Dee was made for him! And who was Ryo? Some prick who denied Dee's affections for years until he gave in and finally saw what he was missing. It made JJ's blood boil to think about Ryo's ignorance, and in the position he was in now, it made his stomach turn.

All he wanted was a nice man who would love and want him back. Someone who would compliment his fashion and play tennis with him and sleep in on days where he didn't have to go to work until the afternoon and stop by and bring him dinner when he was on third shift…why wasn't there someone out there like that? There were over eight million people in New York City, and one of them just had to be right for JJ.

If his love life wasn't bad enough, his sex life was even worse. The last time JJ had gotten laid was almost two months ago, and it was out of pity. JJ threw his head up again, going over the details in his foggy mind once more.

* * *

"You just wouldn't understand!" JJ griped on about hopelessly, wiping tears off his silky skin and pacing around the hotel room like a madman. "You're not gay, so you don't know anything about it! With women, most of them actually want a relationship, but it seems like with gay guys, they only want one thing!"

"Maybe that's because you look for them in the wrong places," said his partner Drake Parker, in his soft voice that he would always use when JJ was upset. Even JJ had to admit, it was rather soothing in his most desperate times of need. "And by the way, JJ, I completely understand. I can give you a list the size of the police rules and regulations handbook of all the girls who have dumped me."

"Yeah, but at least you had something. I just want something. Even for one night. Something that means something…" JJ sat down on the bed and listened to it creak impolitely. The only reason the two weren't at home, with Drake drinking himself to sleep and JJ watching Will and Grace alone on his rose petal-covered couch was due to the fact that their perp had decided to hide out in a town upstate, and with the cooperation of the police department there, they were able to continue their investigation. After they had finally nailed the crook just a few hours previous, both had decided to stay the night and leave in the morning.

Drake looked at JJ intensely, putting out his cigarette in the ashtray on the old, drawn on nightstand. There was something about the look in his eyes-thinking, but still soft-that JJ couldn't shake. He wasn't drunk, because they had only been back at the hotel for twenty minutes, and at dinner, he only had water. So why did Drake look so…thoughtful?

JJ could hear the bed creak again as Drake leaned forward, a sigh floating past his lips. In an instant, their lips were just barely touching, and JJ trembled against the touch of Drake's warm hand on his arm.

When they pulled apart, Drake looked at JJ again and said, "I'll be your something. Just for tonight."

JJ's eyes went wide at the suggestion, and he fumbled with his hands as he thought of what to say. "Drake, you, you don't have to do that, this…"

"I don't have to, but I want to. I don't like seeing you so unhappy. Now come on, let's get this show on the road, yeah?" Drake told him, extending his arms somewhat awkwardly. He did seem rather hesitant, JJ noted, but tonight, he needed what Drake was willing to give him. He allowed the bed to creak again as he leaned into Drake's strong arms, and as their lips were together once more, JJ slowly allowed himself to fall apart.

* * *

Recalling his pity fuck from weeks ago, JJ felt a few tears form in his eyes, but he wouldn't allow them to fall. Ever since that night, everything had gone back to normal. He was still chasing after Dee and Drake was still chasing after girls. But despite the premise of a one-time thing, JJ still felt a connection to Drake that night, emotionally and physically. But no matter what he felt, Drake was straight. As always, his feelings and thoughts were pushed to the side, as everyone else's mattered much more. This was just another manuscript of a failed love story.

Just as he was about to make his exit from the bathroom, after he had decidedly gotten rid of most of his stomach contents, he heard the door push open fast and another inhabitant run into a stall, beginning to throw up just like JJ had. Wanting some good gossip to tell Drake, something they could talk about without it being too awkward, he decided to wait it out to see who it was.

The mystery man finally flushed the toilet after finishing getting sick and went to wash himself up, and that's when JJ decided to strike. Opening the stall door quickly after flushing his own mess down, he was surprised to see the man who was splashing water on his face.

"Ryo, that was you getting sick?" he asked, causing Ryo to jump and splash water on his suit.

"JJ, you scared me! I had no idea you were in here!" Ryo said, rather defensively. "And I wasn't feeling well, if that's what you're asking."

"Well, me neither. I was in here doing the same thing as you before you came in." JJ told him, going over to the sink and washing out his own mouth.

"And you just decided to listen to me throw up? That's a little weird," Ryo told him with an annoyed expression.

"Say, do you think we have the same bug? I've been nauseous and dizzy, and a little more tired than usual."

"Yeah, me too. All of those, actually," Ryo agreed, starting to sound and look visibly concerned. "Are you going to see your doctor soon?"

"I'm going to see her after my shift is over today, actually. I was going to go tomorrow since I have the day off but I figured the earlier, the better." JJ wiped his face off with the rough paper towels provided in the bathroom as he spoke. "Are you?"

"Tomorrow, before my shift starts," Ryo told him with a smile. "I better get back to work, since Dee just took a smoke break. I don't want him to come after me or anything. I hope you feel better soon, JJ."

"You too, Ryo!" JJ called after him as he made his exit, and he began to wonder if that was the only polite conversation they had ever had.

* * *

"There you are!" Dee called after his partner, who appeared back in their shared office after being gone for several minutes. "I came back and you were gone, you made me worried."

"It's not like I just completely left," Ryo said, irritation present in his voice. He sat back down across from Dee and took a drink from his coffee mug, hoping to get the acidic taste of vomit out of his mouth.

"Well, so-rry. You don't have to get so mad about it."

"I'm not mad, Dee!" Ryo suddenly yelled, and was taken aback after he did.

"Okay, Jesus, calm down. Let's just get back to work." Looking at his partner strangely, Dee took out the files they were working on for the case of Bethany Cook. "We got phone records today and according to 'em, the last person she spoke to was a female friend. After calling her, she confirmed to us that Bethany had gone shopping, which is what she was doing just before she came back to her hotel room. We can confirm that by credit card documents that we'll obtain as soon as they're faxed over."

"And we also found shopping bags in the room, too. By the way, Dee, I ran a check on Bethany's parents, and I did find that police record they were talking about," Ryo told him, taking some papers out of a desk drawer. "They filed a restraining order a year ago on a man named Cesar Jones, who lives here in NYC according to his address, but can't be within 100 yards of their apartment. They claimed that he was stalking them, I guess. But that has nothing to do with Bethany, so it won't help us."

"Guess we'll just have to go back to what we've got already," Dee said with a lengthy sigh, and continued to keep an eye on Ryo after his strange behavior.

* * *

When the day came to an end for the detectives at the 27th, Dee and Ryo met their friend Drake outside the door to their office, who appeared to be fleetingly nervous.

"What's wrong with you, man? Chief got your ass about yesterday?" Dee asked him, throwing an arm around the detective he pitied for having to work with JJ all day.

"Of course he does, but that's not why," Drake told them with a sigh. "I've got another date with that girl I've been seeing, Andrea, the one I was telling you about. We're going out this Saturday. Don't you remember her?"

"Don't recall. Let me guess, ugly, boring, unemployed, like all the rest?" Dee teased, and behind him Ryo shook his head at Dee's antics.

"Hell no! She's totally hot. I just don't want to screw it up, you know? I don't even know how I bagged a chick like her. It's crazy that she even wants to be seen with me."

"And what's the plan for the evening?"

As they neared the end of the hallway, Drake pulled out his phone and searched through it for a moment. "Some bar called…" he started, but ended up not finishing his sentence and turning a bright shade of red. "Well, it doesn't really matter what the bar's called, does it?"

Dee started to snicker uncontrollably. "Why not? Why can't you tell me the name? Come on, be a man!"

Drake glared at him in anger, but he was clearly embarrassed. "It's called Mr. Smoothie Ice Cream Bar, alright?" he said in a considerably quieter voice.

At the mention of the name, Dee burst out in laughter, practically falling over. "Oh my God! That is incredible! Little Drakey-wakey is taking his girlie-whirlie to get smoothies! Are you sure you're not bi, dude? Ha!"

'Shut up, you moron! She wanted to go, it was her idea!"

Despite his explanations, Dee continued to giggle, but stopped as soon as Drake retaliated, "Hey, where's Ryo?"

Dee instantly looked up the hallway and noticed that Ryo was nowhere to be seen. Instead of behaving like an adult, Dee turned to Drake, said, "Have fun sipping smoothies!" and charged down the hallway, calling after Ryo with enthusiasm. "Oh, Ryo! Come to me, baby!"

As soon as he reached the end of the hallway, Dee was halted by a sudden authorative tone coming from his left. "There you are, Laytner," said the unmistakable Lieutenant Berkeley Rose, who glared at Dee as if he murdered his first born child. Behind the statuesque man was Ryo, who wasn't looking so well; in fact, he looked a little green to Dee.

"Aww Ryo, what's the matter, baby?" Dee asked him, ignoring the commissioner completely and focusing on his hurt looking boyfriend.

"Dee, the commissioner and I were talking about the case, you should listen to him," Ryo said, covering his mouth as soon as he got out the last syllable.

"You should listen to your partner more often, you know," Rose remarked, handing over a file to Dee, who began looking it over. "The coroner's report came in; blood loss, as expected. The assumption is the perp was attempting to cut the baby out of her as she was still alive."

"Jesus," Dee muttered, looking over the files with only half the amount of interest he would have if he was truly focused on what he was doing. At the moment, he was still concerned about Ryo, but this case was absolutely horrifying, and he had to give it due credit.

"We won't know all the details until the autopsy comes back," Rose informed them, frowning perpetually, "but until then I want you two completely focused on the case. As soon as we get the faxes from the credit card company, go over the purchases and see if you can find the stores she last shopped at to get any information from them. Maybe they would have seen her with someone."

"Good idea, commish, can we go now? My Ryo doesn't look very good," Dee told him in a snotty tone, putting extra emphasis on the 'my'. Besides JJ, the only other person who really felt affected by Ryo and Dee getting together was the commissioner. He himself had wanted to make Ryo his, but Ryo shared no affection for him, and always tried to turn him down gently, minus one time where he punched the living daylights out of him.

Rose sighed softly as he brushed back his hair with his nimble fingers. "I don't exactly commend your obnoxious behavior, but Randy here doesn't look like he's up for much other than sleep, so I won't yell at you now. I'll see you both bright and early tomorrow, correct, detectives?"

Dee nodded at him with false excitement, hoping to get out of there as soon as possible without an argument, but Ryo didn't respond. His hand was clenched tightly against his mouth and his eyes went wide.

"Are you alright, Randy?" Rose asked in genuine concern, and Dee was just about to pick him up and carry him off to safety before Ryo opened his mouth and threw up all over the commissioner's shoes.

"Oh my God!" Dee yelled, jumping behind Ryo and keeling over in laughter. Ryo, however, didn't find it nearly as funny; he stared in humiliation as the commissioner made a face of ultimate disgust.

"I'm so, so sorry, sir! I didn't mean to, I swear! I promise you I'll pay you back for them, I promise!" Ryo said frantically, in shock and embarrassment, as Rose silently slipped out of the shoes, which were coated in a light brown liquid.

Under his breath, Berkeley muttered, "Six hundred dollar Prada loafers…", but quickly cleared his throat, put on a smile and said, "It's not your fault at all, just an accident. No need to be sorry. You just go right home and take your idiot partner with you," he finished, glaring at Dee, whom he seemed to direct more anger at then Ryo.

Ryo continued to apologize to the commissioner as Dee dragged him down the hall, still laughing his head off. He knew he might pay for this later, but right now, it was the funniest thing that had happened all day, and pairing it with Drake's dumb date, Dee was lucky to be on God's good side that day.

* * *

"I'm…I'm what?" JJ said, in a voice so hoarse it almost wasn't even there. Suddenly, everything felt more real to him; from the itchiness of the hideous gown they made him wear, to the ticking of the clock on the wall, his senses were never more in tune then they were in this moment.

"You tested positive on both the blood and urine samples, Mr. Adams," said Dr. Kaye, who had been JJ's general practitioner ever since he moved to the city several years ago. She looked at him now with compassion as he tried to grasp what was happening to him. "You are indeed pregnant," she reminded him, which only made JJ's mouth open wider.

"But I…how? How does this happen?"

"No one really knows when it comes to male pregnancy. One day, the body just decides that it wants to make a baby, and if the timing is just right," she said, silently referring to sex, "then a baby is made."

Suddenly, another horrid thought flashed into JJ's mind; the only guy he had had sex with in months was Drake. It was Drake's sperm. It was Drake's baby.

JJ broke into the most terrifying sobs Dr Kaye had ever seen, and she immediately tried to console him, to no avail. "WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!?" he blubbered, seemingly unaware of how truly loud he was. "I CAN'T BE PREGNANT WITH DRAKE'S BABY, I JUST CAN'T!"

"Mr. Adams, please! You don't want anyone else to come in here, do you?"

JJ tried his best to stifle his sobs, but it was harder than he thought. He took the handful of tissues that the doctor had given him and wiped his wet face, choking on his own tears. "What am I gonna do…?" he said miserably, ignoring the doctor and all sense of self control.

"My advice is to see an obstetrician as soon as possible, in order to learn more about the pregnancy," his doctor informed him, still shocked by his overdramatic reaction. "And also to start taking prenatal vitamins for the health of the baby. By my best estimate, you're no more than eight weeks pregnant, based on the levels of hCG in your body. Drink plenty of water and eat a balanced diet, and in the meantime, I'd recommend taking a few days off work, especially if you're having vomiting and dizziness spells."

JJ tried to nod along to her words as he covered up his tears, but the pain inside of him was starting to swell. He could feel the bile pushing its way up his throat, and he ran a free hand through his dyed hair. For some reason, he suddenly began to panic; he had dyed it lavender again just last weekend. What if the dye hurt the baby? Breathing in the smelly fumes, which reminded him directly of cat urine, wasn't good for anyone, let alone a pregnant person.

"Um, doctor?" JJ asked timidly, sniffling a little bit as he spoke. "Do you know if it's bad to dye your hair while you're pregnant? Because I did dye it just last weekend, but I swear I didn't know about the baby!"

Dr, Kaye smiled at him, but shook her head gently. "There's no reason for concern. From what I've heard, dying your hair is usually safe during pregnancy, and since every time I've ever seen you you've had that purple hair, I assume you know what you're doing."

JJ breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't totally killed the kid yet. Now he just had to make it through nine months of being pregnant…with Drake's baby.

He began to realize that Drake was the one that did this to him. And JJ was not exactly glowing over the fact that Drake, of all people, had done this to him. He was going to get his revenge, no matter what. But his first destination would be the bathroom, where he was going to visit the familiar porcelain toilets he was so accustomed to sticking his head in nowadays.

* * *

As soon as they arrived at Dee's apartment, Ryo headed straight for the bedroom, kicking off his shoes and practically falling into the bed where Dee and sometimes he himself would sleep. Dee followed close behind him, a glass of water in his right hand. "Come on, baby, you need to drink something," he told Ryo worriedly, while Ryo made himself comfortable under the covers.

As much as he wanted to protest with Dee's coddling, he knew he was probably right. He sat up in bed just a little and took the water from Dee, drinking almost half of it before setting it down on the cheap nightstand Dee had bought several months ago. "Maybe I do need to see the doctor…" he said softly, laying his head down on the pillow and sighing.

"Of course you do, that's what I've been telling you for weeks!" Dee told him, but was sympathetically stroking his hair at the same time. "You should call in sick tomorrow."

"Dee, I can't-"

"No excuses, Mr. Workaholic! You can take a day off work and it won't kill you!"

Ryo knew Dee was right, and it was really starting to bother him with just how right he was. Wanting to avoid Dee's loving yelling, he agreed to taking the day off, if only for him. "But just tomorrow, and then I'll go to the doctor's on Saturday and this will all be cleared up, alright?" he warned, and Dee nodded.

"It won't be fun without you. I mean, I'll actually have to work!"

At that, Ryo rolled his eyes, but was quickly halted before speaking as Dee kissed him tenderly, and after a long day of not feeling well, the attention was greatly admired. Ryo kissed back and wrapped his arms around Dee's upper back loosely, to signify that he wouldn't be staying like this for long. As much as he wanted to be closer to Dee-and as much as Dee wanted it, too-Ryo knew he wasn't up for any major activity tonight.

After a few minutes of kissing, Dee pulled away from Ryo just as Ryo brushed some hair out of Dee's face. "You need to get a haircut," he told him, earning a small laugh from Dee.

"If you say so. I think I look sexy."

Now it was Ryo's turn to laugh. "You do look sexy, but it's just getting long, that's all."

"Whatever," Dee said dramatically, with a fake sniffle and all, earning a small punch from Ryo. After the two laughed about it some more, Dee asked his sick lover, "Do you need anything else? Anything at all?"

"Well…there is something you could do for me…but it's not until Saturday morning, when I'll be at the doctor…"

"You want me to come with you? Oh, boy oh boy, I thought you'd never ask! Leave it to Dee, baby, I'll be there for you, right at your side, whatever you need, I'll be there!"

"No, Dee, that's not it," Ryo told him, and he noticed Dee's shoulders slump slightly. "Since I'll be busy that morning, I need you to pick up Bikky from the bus station. He's coming back from camp."

"WHAT? NO!" Dee exclaimed in anger, earning a sigh from Ryo. "I AM NOT GOING TO PICK UP THAT SIMIAN HALF-PINT FROM THE BUS STATION, HELL I'LL GO GET HIM AND DROP HIM OFF AT A METH LAB!"

"Dee, please? For me?" Ryo asked, knowing that that line would kill Dee instantly.

And Ryo was right; one look at his sick face and Dee gave a defeated sigh, promising to pick Bikky up at exactly nine o' clock without a complaint. He was unhappy about it, but knowing it would give Ryo ease of mind, he would comply.

That night, Dee cuddled up behind Ryo and nuzzled his head into his shoulder, and Ryo didn't mind one bit. Somehow he and Dee had made it into a point of complete comfort in their relationship, and Ryo wanted nothing more than to stay like this forever.

* * *

Author's Notes: Poor JJ! Gaah I just love him, he's my favorite character :) about his hair though; I'm not actually a big anime or manga fan, I just stumbled upon FAKE and thought it looked good which is why I read it, but my older brother is really into all things Japanese and he says in most anime/manga the characters will just have crazy hair colors naturally! I don't really like that very much, and I'm taking the liberty here of stating that JJ dyes his hair diluted/pastel purple, because I just can't stand thinking someone could naturally have that color! That would bother me so much! My hair is naturally dark brown and right now it's actually the same color as JJ's :) For those who are wondering or don't know, yes JJ had confirmed pastel purple hair because on the back of one of the volumes there's an image of Dee with playing cards, and you can see a picture of JJ in one of the cards, and also in the OVA (which you can find on Youtube in Japanese with subtitles or in English if you buy it on Amazon, which is what I did) he had that color of hair. Also Ted has bright red hair! Go figure! But in FAKE Second Season, the new, Japanese only manga that Ms. Matoh has started, JJ has very frosty blue hair, you can see him on the cover! I only know because my brother went and bought FAKE Second Season for me after going to Japan this summer! Lucky him, lucky me! :) although I think you can find it online!

Sorry that was really long, I'm a hair enthusiast! By the way, the smoothie place described in here is a real place, I just searched it on Google! I don't own it! Sorry everyone, see you in the next chapter! xx


	3. Shoot Me

Author's Notes: Wow, we're finally at chapter three! But we've still got a long way to go :) this chapter's going to be a good one, I promise you. Well, hopefully you'll be as ambitious as I am! Life in El's world has been pretty good so far…I am taking a quick trip across the country to the east coast to meet with my brother's boyfriend, they're getting married in October :) they're so cute together. This is my older brother who's obsessed with anime/manga, usually ones that feature gay love stories like FAKE! I found out he owned the whole series only after I bought them all! His boyfriend is also Japanese-American, I call him Ryo all the time :) then I'm going to France to meet up with my oldest brother and his wife of two years. Yay, I love France :) I wish I could go to NYC though to brush up on my FAKE knowledge! I feel so dumb writing this story and trying to pinpoint where they are, I just kind of assume they're close to the Bronx since they went to the Bronx station when their building blew up…?

Anyway, sorry for bad knowledge of NYC/law enforcement/anything, I'm trying, I am! I do not own FAKE and I am not making money off of this story, but I do own the plot, Dr. Farrow and the Martins! Happy reading!

* * *

On a cool Saturday morning, at exactly nine o' clock, Dee Laytner found himself leaning on his car, smoking a cigarette and staring at the ground with disdain, surrounded by several excited moms and dads all waiting for their children to arrive on the bus that carried them off to camp a week previous. Dee was not there on duty, nor was he there to kidnap a child whose parent was oblivious or absent, and he certainly wasn't there just for the hell of it; he was there to pick up his boyfriend's son, Bikky Goldman.

Ryo had become Bikky's foster parent shortly after Bikky's dad was murdered, and in just a few months, Ryo would be his legal guardian. Dee wasn't fond of Bikky, and the thirteen year-old felt about the same when it came to Dee-Bikky thought Dee was gross, and Dee thought of Bikky as an obstacle in his way to get to Ryo. But Dee knew that the only way to Ryo's heart was also through the menacing kid, and even if he and Bikky fought often about anything they could possibly disagree on, somewhere deep down in his heart Dee had a soft spot for Bikky. He had lived a hard life, and Ryo was trying his best to raise him in a good environment. It was hard enough on Ryo to be gone so often, what with police work getting in the way constantly; Dee could only imagine how hard it would be if Bikky were younger and needed more supervision.

As the bus finally pulled down the road and started to come to a stop, Dee realized that in a few short months, Bikky would start high school, which meant he was almost out of the house, which made him smile creepily, and which also made him subject to a sharp kick in the side.

Dropping his cigarette, Dee looked up at Bikky, who was holding his duffel bag over his shoulder impatiently. "Jesus, kid," Dee muttered, getting up and brushing dust off of his back, "you could've killed me! I'm not as young as I look, believe me."

"Where's Ryo? He didn't tell me he was sending you to come get me," was Bikky's snotty reply, and he didn't wait for an answer before getting into the back of Dee's car.

As much as Dee wanted to strangle the kid, he knew that any fighting would only aggravate Ryo, and in his current condition he was trying is best not to make him feel any worse. He considered calling him to check on how he was, but knowing Ryo he was probably still at the doctor's and would get mad. Sighing, Dee got into the car and started the engine, pulling out of the place where the bus was and leaving it behind them.

"Listen, loser," Dee started, glaring at Bikky through his mirror, "Ryo hasn't been feeling good all week, so that's why he's not here to come get you. Believe me, I'm as eager as you were to be here right now. So when we come back later tonight you better be a good brat, understand?"

"I bet it's your fault that he's sick," Bikky told him angrily, but underneath his tone Dee could still see a hint of vulnerability, with genuine concern for Ryo.

Dee couldn't help but laugh a little. "He's going to be alright," he said, turning up the radio a little as he recognized a song he loved back when he was a teenager.

"I don't believe anything that comes out of your mouth. Oh my God, were you there all week? I bet the place just reeks of you, you damn pervert!" Bikky complained, tossing his head a little to the left and bumping it against the worn seats.

Dee rolled his eyes at the kid. He would never truly like kids, but sometimes, Bikky was just too funny for his own good.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ryo was sitting in the uncomfortable lounge chair designated for patients, waiting for his doctor to come back and give him his results. After taking blood and urine tests, as well as waiting for a good twenty minutes, Ryo was starting to become tired again. He began rolling the thought of drinking more coffee around in his mind, before getting distracted by a very bland poster of muscles in the human body attached on the door.

Before he knew it, Ryo's eyes jolted open at the sudden touch of someone beside him, and he quickly recognized it to be his doctor. "I think you dozed off, Randy," Dr. Farrow, an older man with graying hair and a graying beard to accompany it, told him quietly, as he always spoke in a gentle voice.

Blushing, Ryo sat up instantly and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, cursing how the white of the walls was so irreversibly bright to him. "I'm so sorry, I've just been so tired lately," he told his doctor, checking his watch quickly to see that he would be expected back at work soon.

"Well, that's probably just a symptom of what you're experiencing!" said his doctor with a smile, and Ryo couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at him.

"You know what it is?"

"Yes, your lab results came back, and it's very clear what's happening to you. It appears that you're pregnant!"

Ryo stared up at Dr. Farrow with his blackened eyes and blinked several times. Clearing his throat, he mumbled, "Could you repeat that?"

"You're going to have a baby. Isn't that exciting?" his doctor informed him, leafing through the papers he had printed off from Ryo's test results. "You're almost seven weeks along, which is still very early, and it gives you plenty of time to make decisions on what you want to do."

Dumbfoundedly, Ryo nodded, as if he completely knew everything that was going on and already aware of the fact that he was pregnant. On the inside, an acute pain in his stomach began to build up and throb, and it was as if a bag of butterflies had been released in is entire body. He tried to open his mouth to speak, but no words would come out. He closed his mouth again, unaware of what to do, say, think, or feel. His world began slowly rotating off its axis, and he couldn't stop it from happening.

A sharp ringing sound filled the small office, almost mimicking the stout cry of a child. Apologizing, Ryo said, "I'm sorry doctor, this is a work call," before answering it faster than lightning. "Um, this is Detective Maclean?"

"Randy! Get your ass over here!" The chief's voice was loud and booming, and Ryo's doctor found himself slightly frightened. "We've got a guy keepin' a hostage over here, and you and Adams are our best snipers!"

"Understood, sir, I'll head right over," Ryo assured him, the words pouring out of him almost automatically.

"I'll send you the address soon, hurry up!" were the last words Ryo heard from the chief before an abrupt clicking sound made Ryo's ears feel sharpened with reality. As much as he wanted time to think, he had a job to do, and damned if he wouldn't do it well.

* * *

Pulling his car into the closest parking space, Ryo listened intently to the hum of the engine as it died down with wonder. Was it just him, or were his senses becoming more in tune lately? He looked down at his stomach. It didn't look any different, but just for good measure, he decided to poke at it.

Ryo was more surprised to find that it felt no different. But it was still early, after all, and it wouldn't be long before a burgeoning bump took the place of his usually toned body. Just the thought of being pregnant-looking pregnant-was starting to terrify him.

He took a deep breath before getting out of the car, sniper case in hand, and walking towards the chief, ready to tackle whatever crazy guy decided that keeping a hostage was a great and logical idea.

"It's 'bout time you got here," the chief said, a cigar clamped between his teeth and a walkie-talkie in his right hand. Police cars had surrounded the apartment building and it was obvious which apartment in particular was being targeted, due to lights flashed at the window, where the figure of a man was seen. "Go the fuck away!" he screamed, and Ryo raised his eyebrows inquisitively.

"Name's Sam Martin, hostage is his wife Dina. Seems like your average domestic dispute…" the chief went on, but Ryo found it was difficult to pay attention to him, concentrating instead on the retched smell of smoke emitted from the chief's cigar. He wasn't one to appreciate the stench normally, but he put up with it considering Dee, the chief and most of his co-workers were frequent smokers. If the smell of smoke was going to irritate his senses throughout his pregnancy, he was screwed.

"Well, why are you still standing here?" the chief yelled at him, frowning his usual disappointed frown. "Go on, Adams is up there waiting for you to get your ass up there!"

"Oh, yes sir," Ryo responded, standing up straight and quickly running towards the direction he was pointed to.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Smith asked himself, but quickly shook it off. He was dealing with the 27th, after all, the biggest bunch of idiots he had ever encountered. Even Randy, his best officer, was sure to have his off days working with the other morons he had disdainfully employed.

"What took you so long?" JJ asked rather impatiently, looking through the scope on his gun and cursing under his breath. "This damn guy keeps getting in my shot…"

"Sorry. I had to go to the doctor and…" Ryo began to say, but he suddenly remembered what he had discovered there, and he no longer wanted to talk about it.

"Whatever. Hurry up and get set up." JJ told him harshly, still searching for a good shot.

Ryo wondered why JJ was so snappy, but was too lost in his own little world to think too much of it. He got his gun out its case and got into position, trying to find a good target. JJ was right though, because it was near impossible to find a good shot with the guy moving around so much. He appeared to be dragging his wife around with him, and Ryo knew that shooting at this point would be too dangerous to the hostage.

"Bastard," JJ said quietly, sighing loud enough to catch Ryo's attention. "How dare he try to keep her like that. That's just awful."

"Well, I'm sure the situation is much messier than we know," Ryo responded, looking at JJ in concern. JJ was usually spastic and excited about something or other, but never pissed off like he seemed to be today.

"What do you know? You're just goody-goody Ryo, getting everything you want. Life is perfect for you."

Ryo glared at him straight-on, asking him, "What is the matter with you today? We're supposed to be focusing on our job and you're acting strange for some reason. What did I do?"

"You took Dee from me! He was supposed to be mine, damnit!" JJ yelled at him, turning away from his sniper and returning Ryo's glare. The two men were staring directly at each other, losing all focus on the situation at hand.

"Are we really doing this again?" Ryo asked, sighing mentally as he thought back on how poorly JJ had taken news of his and Dee's relationship.

"You don't deserve him. You did nothing but deny his advances for two years! Two whole years! And that whole time, I was there, ready and willing to be his one and only. And he chose you instead!"

"That's not my fault he chose me! In fact, I never asked him too!" Ryo was aware that they were likely causing a scene, but something inside of him-maybe they were pregnancy hormones or something-was tired of JJ's bullshit. "Why do you even care right now?"

"Because I'm pregnant!" JJ yelled at him, and suddenly Ryo's eyes went wide. The other day, when he saw JJ in the bathroom…they were suffering from the same thing. And Ryo now understood why JJ was so upset.

"It's Drake's," JJ told him pitifully, a few tears hanging in his eyes which Ryo knew JJ wouldn't let fall, "and it was a one night thing. And I'm all alone. And I don't know what to do."

"JJ, I'm so sorry…" Ryo offered, unsure of what to say. It seemed that JJ was as thrilled as he was to be expecting. But Ryo had Dee, who would hopefully be there with him through anything. JJ's future was uncertain.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that," he replied, and turned back to his sniper solemnly, attempting to refocus on the target.

Ryo felt the need to try to validate to JJ that he did understand what he was going through. In an attempt to prove himself, he said softly, "I'm pregnant too."

"WHAT?!" JJ screamed, and accidentally pulled the trigger on his sniper in shock. The bullet went crashing through the window at the speed of light, and just barely missed the hostage, lodging into the neck of the man instead. Dee and the charge team broke the door down to find Sam Martin brutally wounded and his wife sobbing on the floor.

"Jesus, what the fuck kind of shot was that?" Dee asked in confusion to Drake, who only shrugged as he fished handcuffs out of his pocket.

Back on the roof, JJ was ready to pounce on Ryo and rip his hair out. "You're…you're pregnant…with Dee's baby?"

Unable to answer, Ryo looked down and blushed in embarrassment. It was strange enough just thinking about it, but hearing somebody else say it gave him butterflies.

Before either of them could take any further action, JJ's walkie-talkie began angrily buzzing, and the chief's enraged speech could be made out; "Adams, Maclean! You two shitheads are DEAD when we get back to the precinct! Both of you will report to Commissioner Rose's office IMMEDIATELY!"

Ryo wanted to stay behind and talk to Dee, knowing he had probably been worried all day long, but if he didn't get a move on, along with JJ, he had a feeling he wouldn't be working with Dee much longer.

* * *

"You two are IDIOTS!" the chief screamed at them from the thin walls of Commissioner Berkeley Rose's office. Ryo tried his best to sit up straight and act appropriately, but JJ was slumped over in the chair and sulking, no doubt still upset about the whole day.

"Excuse me, Chief Smith, but I think you're dismissing the fact that Randy had nothing to do with this. It was Detective Adams who fired his gun inappropriately, after all," Rose announced in a cool tone, portraying his obvious favor of Ryo well to his advantage this time around.

"You have a point, Rose, but you're both still FUCKING PINHEADS FOR LETTING THIS HAPPEN! YOU COULD'VE KILLED THE CHICK!"

Ryo tried his best to apologize, but he wasn't sure if the chief was listening or if he even really cared. He knew that the news would be all over this story, and their poor chief was going to get an even worse reputation for it. "Sir, I apologize for what happened today, but it was very difficult for JJ or myself to get a good shot what with-"

"What about you, Adams?! You got anything to say about this?"

JJ shook his head silently, and Ryo bit his lip. He did genuinely feel bad for JJ, despite the fact that he almost killed an innocent woman that day.

Just as Ryo was about to begin pleading for forgiveness again, the door to Rose's office was burst down as a distressed Dee raced in. "Ryo darling! I've been looking all over for you!"

"Dee, this really isn't the time or place-"

"Laytner, what don't you understand about 'private meeting'?" Berkeley asked in annoyance.

"Geez, it ain't really so private when everyone down the hall can hear the badger screaming," Dee said, watching the chief glare at him and begin to think of a variety of job threats and swear words to spew at him before his phone rang.

It was a quick phone call, and an urgent one at that, because as soon as Chief Smith hung up the phone, he became his dead serious work-self again. "Alright boys, looks like you'll be pulling some overtime tonight."

"What? Come on, damnit, I haven't seen Ryo all day!" Dee complained, but the look Rose was sending him made him tone it down a little bit.

"Quit your complaining! Your partner has caused trouble today, and you're just one big pain in the ass, so it serves you right. Anyway, this might have something to do with your Cook case."

At news of the case he and Dee were trying to settle out, Ryo perked up. "What is it, sir?"

"Lady by the name of Victoria Kennedy showed up at Lenox Hill this afternoon. Says someone tried to kill her and take her baby. She's eight months pregnant and is having her wounds being treated there now, so you two morons need to go over there now and do your damn job."

Ryo stood up and nodded to both the chief and the commissioner, hoping to earn back some of the respect he had lost. It appeared that no imminent damage was done on his part, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"As for you, Adams," the chief continued, "you're suspended for five days for breaking code. You pull this shit again, and it won't be pretty. You understand me, pixie dust?"

JJ shuddered slightly at the nickname. The chief called him that because of his hair color, but it always reminded him of a darker time, when he was younger and was called names because of who he was. "Yes, sir," he said dejectedly, and stood up, exiting along with Ryo and Dee.

"Damn!" Dee whined as soon as they left, kicking the dust in anger. "All I wanted was alone time with my Ryo and now we have to go work some more!"

Ryo knew this wasn't the time for Dee to brag about their relationship, especially in front of fragile JJ, so he tried to distract him from the two of them. "Come on, Dee, this might give us a good lead."

The two began walking in the opposite direction, towards the parking garage, before the shrill sound of JJ's voice stopped them. "Dee?"

Dee whipped around and flashed JJ a confused look. Dee had seen many phases of JJ before, but he had never sounded so broken before. "Yeah?"

"Do you know where Drake is?"

"Well, uh, I think he headed home, he's getting ready for some date…you'll never guess how dumb the name of the place is. It's called the Mr. Smoothie Ice Cream Bar. Isn't that just the dumbest-"

"Thanks," JJ replied quickly, walking away from them and leaving them standing in the hallway together. Dee turned around and shot Ryo a questioning glance, and Ryo merely shrugged.

"Will you tell me how your appointment went?" Dee asked him now that they were alone, and Ryo almost wanted to smack him for just how good of a memory he had when he wanted to.

"Not now, Dee. We have a case to focus on," he told Dee gently, but in reality, he was just too afraid to admit what he knew would change their relationship forever.

* * *

Author's Notes: End of chapter three! Next chapter is going to be very case-centric, so sorry for those who are waiting to see how Dee will take the news! Or better yet, Drake…also, I apologize in advance if chapters take forever to come out, because I'm very busy right now with school. It was hard to find the time to finish this chapter in itself! I'll see you all next time! Thank you all for reading! xx


	4. The Second Victim

Author's Notes: Hi guys! I'm back for chapter four and I'm so excited! I can't guarantee that this chapter will be as long as the others, since it's mainly just developments on the case. And I know you guys want more of the couples, but the plot has to advance itself too! I promise next chapter is when Dee will find out about Ryo! JJ isn't going to come in for another two chapters or so however, but have no fear, I'll type as fast as I can :)

I don't own FAKE or any of its characters, but I do own Victoria Kennedy and Lucas Davis. Dun dun dun…happy reading!

* * *

In the elevator, Ryo began to feel nauseous for what had felt like the hundredth time that day. Just thinking about doctors or hospitals made him think of the baby. His doctor had advised him to start seeing an obstetrician, as well as to start taking prenatal vitamins, but before he did anything he knew he had to tell Dee about the fact that they were going to have a baby in the next seven months.

Dee could tell something was up, just by the way Ryo was acting; he was avoiding discussing the appointment, as well as avoiding eye contact. He was too smart to fall for Ryo's tricks anymore. It was starting to worry him even worse than it had that morning. What if something was seriously wrong with his Ryo?

"So…how was Bikky today?" Ryo asked nonchalantly, wishing the floor that Miss Kennedy, the second victim in the horrific kidnapping-homicide case they were working on, wasn't so high up as to buy Dee time to interrogate him on how he was feeling.

"Fine. Normal. He kicked the shit out of me when I wasn't paying attention. He said he was going to be waiting for us tonight. Guess he's gonna end up waiting longer, thanks to damn overtime."

"Damnit…I hope he won't be too upset. I guess I'll just swing by the pizza place that makes the pizza he likes, with the chicken nuggets baked on it. That'll make him feel better."

"What, I'm not invited?" Dee asked with a slight pout. "Come on, Ryo, I've been waiting all day for you to talk to me!"

Ryo thought about it carefully; he knew with Bikky and Dee under the same roof, it would be hard to get Dee alone to have a private conversation with him. But he knew that there wasn't going to be any better time to do it, considering he wasn't going to have this conversation at work.

"You know, that actually does sound like a good idea. In fact, why don't you stay the night?"

"Awesome! Just you, me, brat in his room sound asleep…" Dee began to fantasize, wondering if tonight he would get lucky, like he had been trying to do for days now.

"Do you think you can get the pizza instead, though? I have to stop by the store real quick." Ryo said, perhaps pressing his luck a little too much.

"Why can't we just go together?" Dee asked defensively, his thoughts going back to Ryo's strange behavior instantly.

"Because, this way I can probably beat you home and have time to speak to Bikky, without any fighting happening." _So I can think of the best way to tell you that you're going to be a dad _was more like it, Ryo thought to himself.

"Whatever you say," Dee responded arrogantly, glancing at the elevator panel to see that they were almost on the right floor, after what seemed like forever.

"Dee, don't be like that," Ryo started to tell him, before the elevator opened its big metal doors and Dee was the first to exit. Ryo caught up with him as he made his way down the long, plain halls of Lenox Hill, until they finally reached the room numbered 425, where their investigation would hopefully be aided by a young girl by the name of Victoria Kennedy.

* * *

A monitor beeped to a steady hum in the room, showing heartbeat as well as keeping track of how the baby was doing. Other than that, the room was as normal looking as any other hospital room could be, with no real decorations, two blue chairs and some cabinets. In those chairs sat Dee and Ryo, notepads open as they spoke to the victim. Victoria Kennedy had long, caramel-colored waves for hair, and she was relatively skinny, despite her apparent pregnant belly. Her skin seemed slightly blotchy, and she had several Band-Aids along her arms.

"How old are you, Miss Kennedy?" Ryo asked calmly, aware that after going through the details of her predicament, she might begin to feel scared once more.

"I'm twenty-two. I'm working on my bachelor's degree at NYU."

"What's your major?"

"Nursing."

"I see," Ryo said, noticing her blunt nature immediately. She didn't seem like she was one to take shit from anybody. "Alright, can you describe what happened to you?"

Sighing, she took a drink of water from a Dixie cup on the stand attached to the bed and began to speak. "I was out late last night at a bar to celebrate a friend's birthday. I wasn't drinking, mind you. I sure would like to be, but I'm not one of those people to sacrifice the health of my child for a little fun. So I was there, having a good time, left maybe a little after midnight. I took a cab halfway back to where I live. Figured I could walk the rest of the way. Besides, I'm tight on money, and I didn't live very close anyway. So I'm walking, not too many people out there but it is Friday night so it's not empty. I notice that I'm being followed after a while. I don't really know what to do, but this guy is just following me. So there's a twenty-four hour café, only a few blocks from my apartment. I'm tight on money but I need to escape this loser."

"Could you see him while he was following you?" Dee asked, jotting down notes.

"No, it was too dark. Anyway, go into café, order a decaf, it's so late. I'm just drinking it. There are a few other people there. Guy doesn't follow me in. But twenty minutes later, this guy walks in. He looks okay. Clean shaven, light brown hair, kinda looks like Ryan Gosling except not the same body. Wearing a denim jacket with a seafoam green shirt under it, brown leather bag strapped around him, cargo shorts. Orders tea or something. As he looks around for a place to sit, he sees me, and comes over. Starts going gaga over my baby bump, says he and his wife are having a child soon, asks if he can sit down with me. I say, well why not. I'm a sociable person. Introduces himself too. Name was Lucas Davis."

"Did you expect him to have any evil intent at this point?" Ryo asked, looking at her with genuine concern.

"Not at all. He seemed like a nice guy. I mean, I guess it was kind of weird for the guy to be away from his pregnant wife at that time of night, but I guess that just didn't cross my mind at the time. I like talking to people, even if I don't know them. Anyway, we finish our drinks, it's so late. We leave, still talking. We were having a nice conversation. Never said anything bad. He sees I'm walking and offers to pay for a cab for us. Says he lives close. I agree, we get in the cab, go to my place, it's maybe 1:30. He pays, cab leaves, I say goodnight, he offers to walk me upstairs. I say it's not necessary, he insists. I expect him to leave once we get up there, but all of the sudden, he pulls out a knife, says to open the damn door. I freak out, open the door, he follows me inside and shuts the door. He starts to say, remember how I said my wife and I were having a baby soon? Remember? Well, we are, and I need you to give the baby to us now! I start screaming, I throw a plate at him, he cuts his hand. He starts grabbing me, he slashes my arms, he makes one slash at my stomach, and God, does it hurt. I punch him in the face really hard, he keeps trying to cut me but I'm screaming and hitting him, finally he realizes he ain't gonna win. He pushes me over and runs out as quick as possible. And that was that."

"So you think he was the same guy who was following you then?" Ryo asked, trying to wrap his mind around all the possibilities that could come with this new information.

"Had to be. Wouldn't make any sense any other way."

Dee finished scribbling down notes, looking up into Victoria's eyes with his deep, critical look. "And how are you doing? Were the wounds serious?"

"Not at all. I was too squirmy for anything serious. They hurt, yeah, but they weren't too bad. Baby's fine. It's a boy. I'm 33 weeks."

"Wait, a question about the attack itself," Ryo pursued, looking at his notes, "You said you were able to hit and fight him back. I'm sorry if this sounds crude, but how were you able to do that while so heavily pregnant?"

"Well, I'm a boxer, I mean I haven't boxed in a few months, but I know how to hit hard. I thought he would be stronger than I was, honestly. He seemed a little taken aback that I could actually harm him. I think that's why he gave up. If he's done this before, like you guys said, his first victim was probably weak."

Ryo nodded, thinking back to Bethany Cook and wondering if maybe she couldn't fight back like Victoria had. "That's very intriguing. You do have a point though. Now this may sound rather personal, but is your baby's father involved?"

"No. I got knocked up by mistake, one-night stand. I don't even know who the dad is. Doesn't matter. I made college girl mistakes, but I accept responsibility for it."

"Is there anything else you feel like you need to tell us?" Ryo asked, checking the time on his watch quickly. He was attempting to calculate how long it would take him to get down to the store and if he would be able to beat Dee home. It was distracting him perhaps too much.

"Ryo? You okay?" Dee asked him, as he had clearly spaced out. Dee wondered what exactly was wrong with Ryo for him to act this way, and it wasn't making him feel any better. He felt as if he wanted to scream at Ryo for answers and hug him to death at the same time, but he knew Ryo was adamant on keeping quiet until he was ready to speak.

Flushing slightly, Ryo immediately brought his focus back to Victoria, who shook her head for the second time in slight annoyance.

"Alright then, I think we have all the information. We'll be checking in with you as soon we have any information; do you have our numbers?"

"Yes, you gave them to me already."

"Good. We'll be on our way then. We hope you get better soon," Ryo said as he stood and placed his chair back towards the wall.

"Yeah, take care," Dee said, as the two officers made their exit. Victoria, slightly disinterested, took to picking up the TV remote and switching on the small TV connected to the ceiling.

* * *

Once again, Ryo and Dee found themselves in the giant silver elevator of the hospital, making their way back down to the parking garage. Dee was staring intently at Ryo, trying to see if he would crack under pressure. Unfortunately, Ryo was too good for that, staying silent and racking over many thoughts in his mind.

As soon as the two detectives reached the parking garage, Dee looked at Ryo and asked, "Are you sure we can't just go together? I mean, who's going to take the car?"

"You can, I don't mind."

"Nooo. Ryooo. I want you to go with me!"

"Dee, come on, don't be a baby," Ryo scolded him, but flinched when the last word came out of his mouth. He had hoped Dee hadn't noticed him, but Dee was an expert in Ryo's body language.

"Are you sure you're able to do all that walking?" Dee asked him, in genuine concern that Ryo could see well.

"Dee, I can tell you right now that I'm not dying. You're making this out to be such a big deal, when it's not, really."

"How can I know that? You've told me nothing."

Ryo let out a long sigh. Dee was pressing hard, but this wasn't the place to announce his pregnancy. "I promise we'll talk about this later," he said, turning in the opposite direction, "remember, chicken nugget pizza. I'll see you back at home!"

As Ryo walked away from him out into the streets of the city, Dee grumbled and took his cigarettes out of his pocket. He knew smoking in a hospital was ironic in itself, but he had a feeling he was going to go in for an anxiety attack before they ever told him he had lung cancer at this rate.

* * *

On his way back to his apartment, brown bag in hand, Ryo nervously went over in his head what he was going to say to Dee. Would he even be able to say the words 'I'm pregnant'? Everything was making his head hurt. He kept smelling cigarette smoke, and it made his head throb madly. Even being around Dee earlier that day made him slightly nauseous. What was he going to do at work? Practically all of his coworkers were frequent, although not chain, smokers. JJ was the one exception. Suddenly, he wondered how JJ was doing.

In his bag was prenatal vitamins recommended by his practitioner, a few cans of soda for the gang to slurp down along with pizza(no beer, as he himself couldn't drink anymore and he didn't want Dee to have any alcohol in his system during this conversation) and a copy of _Healthy Pregnancy_ magazine. Seeing it in the display near the checkout, Ryo figured it couldn't hurt to read up on what the hell was happening to his body now that he was living for two. The elderly woman who served as cashier asked sweetly, "Is your wife pregnant?" Wanting to avoid any awkward conversations, Ryo just nodded and grabbed the bag as soon as he paid the woman, wasting no time trying to get home.

By some ungodly miracle, traffic wasn't awful that day like it usually was, sending chills through Ryo's spine. If Dee got home before he did, he knew that he and Bikky would go at it.

There was always the possibility that Dee wouldn't want the baby. That perhaps he was really on to something when he constantly would repeat that he hated kids. Thinking realistically, raising a newborn would be very difficult. They would need to find a flexible babysitter who would work with their sometimes unpredictable NYPD schedules, which included regular overtime, early mornings and late nights. A baby would be taxing on their wallets. Plus they already had Bikky, the almost high school freshman who was a handful all to his own degree.

But there was a rising power above all of Ryo's doubts; love. Dee loved him, and while he didn't feel the same for the first two years, Ryo loved Dee too, with all of his being. Dee showed concern for him all that day, assuming the worst only because he loved him and wanted to make sure he was okay so they could love each other for a long time. Love could conquer anything. Maybe, with the love they had for each other, they could hash out a little family together, filled with love.

Ryo tried to remain thinking positive as he reached his apartment building, going inside into the well decorated lobby, checking his mail to find only bills and junk, and heading up the stairs to his little home. As soon as he reached his door, he began to panic, as he could hear the argument between Dee and Bikky, and he knew that now he had to face up to everything that had happened in that day and be brave. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

* * *

Author's Notes: Woohoo! Was this really a woohoo chapter though? It was more sad and crazy! My heart actually started to race as I wrote the victim's account ;-; okay, and I have to say that I will be gone completely from the 21st to 26th of October, and when I do get back I will probably have a lot of work to make up, so to make up for that absence I'm going to try to have at least chapters up through six written and posted. Hopefully, if my already increasing homework stack dies down!

Along with that, next chapter is a big chapter for Dee and Ryo! Sorry for the lack of JJ or Drake (JJ is my favorite character, could you tell?) but they come back in chapter six, and hopefully it will make you laugh as well as make you anxious for the future at the sameee time! Until next time loves xx


	5. Father Figure, Part 1

Author's Notes: Welcome to chapter five! Believe me, we're not even halfway done yet…there's a lot more to this story than it seems so far! I really should be doing homework right now, but my mind is so centered on this story! I posted chapters 3 and 4 in the same week because I was so inspired…who knows, maybe I'll get more done than my original intention before my vacation! Or maybe my grades will fall behind for not doing work I need to have done…sigh, we'll see!

As always, I do not own FAKE or its characters, but this time I really mean it! No original characters of mine show up in this chapter. Just Ryo, Dee, and Bikky! Enjoy!

* * *

As soon as Ryo stepped through the door, Bikky and Dee turned to face him, angry expressions written all over their faces. A vase that was previously on the window, holding a handful of carnations that Dee had bought for Ryo a few days ago, was now in pieces on the floor. Closing his eyes, Ryo let out a long sigh.

Before anything could be said, Bikky pointed at Dee and yelled, "It's his fault! Don't blame me, he did all this!"

"Shut up, you damned twerp! This was all your fault! I had nothing to do with this!" Dee retorted angrily, pointing right back at him.

"Why don't you explain this from the beginning," Ryo seethed, his eyes still closed and his eyebrows knotted. He felt like lighting aromatherapy candles and chasing both of them out of his apartment, but that would be irresponsible and not adult-like.

"Well, brat over here was playing with his damn basketball in the house, and I know he's not supposed to be doing that, so I told him to stop and he wouldn't and I told him to FUCKING STOP NOW and he got all mad and threw the basketball and it knocked over your vase and he broke it! And I picked those flowers out myself!"

Bikky snorted, tugging at his basketball shorts a little bit as he leaned on the couch. "Good thing I squashed 'em then," he said triumphantly, crossing his tanned arms.

"Bikky, you know you aren't supposed to be playing with your basketball inside. I've told you that before. And that vase is coming out of your allowa-oh my God, what happened to your eye?" Ryo asked after reopening his eyes and noticing a forming purple mark on Bikky's right eye.

"Yeah, it's about time you noticed that!" Bikky replied angrily. "The story doesn't end where perv stopped it. After I broke your vase, he got mad and started cussing at me to pick it up, but I told him no because I didn't want to touch glass and he took my basketball and threw it at me, and he hit me in the face! Right in the eye!"

"Dee! You can't hit him! Do you know how inappropriate that is!" Ryo yelled at him incredulously.

"Hey, it's not my fault! He made a mess and wouldn't pick it up!"

"It was broken glass! Damnit Dee, don't you have any sense?" Ryo said in frustration, setting his bag down on the counter.

"All you do is yell at me, wasn't even my fault," Dee mumbled angrily, pulling out his cigarettes and taking one out, in order to smoke away his frustrations.

"Bikky, go put some ice on that eye. Not directly, of course," Ryo told him, and Bikky dejectedly walked into the kitchen to do so. Ryo turned towards the kitchen as well to find his broom to sweep up the glass, but the smell of nicotine stopped him in his tracks. Instantly, he could feel his head pounding, and he was afraid to breathe in the air.

Turning back around to face Dee, Ryo placed his hands on his hips and said, "Could you not smoke in here?"

In confusion, Dee responded, "But I smoke in here all the time. I'm a smoker, it's my thing."

"Yeah, well it's giving me a damn headache!" Ryo said, frowning in anger as he turned the other direction to go into his small but tidy kitchen closet.

"It's not really a big deal…" Dee started, but stopped after rummaging through the contents of Ryo's grocery bag. He found himself having to blink as he re-read the title of a magazine; _Healthy Pregnancy_. The words stuck out in their bright red, bold font on the cover, with a woman holding her baby bump as she was dressed in casual workout clothes. Suddenly, Dee felt his heart rate begin to speed up dramatically. It couldn't be. Could it?

"What the hell are you staring at?" Bikky asked him, annoyed by his generally strange behavior, but as soon as he saw what he was looking at Bikky was stunned too. Speaking for both of them after a long silence, which was only interrupted by Ryo rummaging through his pantry, Bikky said, "What the fuck is that?"

After finding his green and silver broom and dust pan set, Ryo wiped the sweat off his forehead and retreated into the living room. The sight he found was almost worse than when he walked into the house; Dee's cigarette was crushed on the floor, and he saw that both him and Bikky had gone through the grocery bag and were now staring at the magazine. Ryo's eyes went wide, and as if it hadn't registered to him that damage was already done, he screamed, "DON'T LOOK IN THERE!" and jumped into action, grabbing the magazine and putting it in the bag, which he also picked up and clutched rabidly.

Out of stunned silence, no one said or did anything. Ryo stood holding the bag awkwardly, his knees trembling. Dee stood and stared straight ahead, almost spacing out. Bikky stood with his mouth open, eyes faced at the ground.

Finally, after a few disturbingly silent seconds of misery, Bikky looked up at Ryo and began to whisper, "You're knocked UP?!" His whisper had turned into a yell by the end, as he frantically ran a hand through his blonde locks, acting as if this was the worst possible thing that could happen to him.

"Well, uh, I don't, um," Ryo tried to say something intelligent and well thought out, but all that came out were filler words. Bikky looked almost heartbroken and Dee just looked dazed.

"Ryo, are you or aren't you?" Dee finally said, blinking a strange amount of times. Ryo was beginning to go over reactions in his head again, and this isn't exactly what he had thought of.

"I…yes. Yes, I'm…pregnant. Dee, we're going to have a baby," Ryo announced, his voice starting strong but ending very weakly. He couldn't help but think of how awful this all was. Dee was silent, Bikky was upset…and he thought they would be much happier! Nothing was going as Ryo envisioned it. All of his worst thoughts were coming true.

Suddenly, Dee let out a single whine, followed by a morose moaning sound. A myriad of tears began to flow from his jade eyes, and he dropped to his knees, raising his hands in the air. Through his tears, he began to yell up to the ceiling, "Praise the Lord! Praise Jesus! Praise Moses and Joseph and Mary and Adam and Eve and Noah and all those bitches! I'm going to be a father!"

Jumping up from the ground, Dee ran into Ryo's arms, knocking him down to the ground with blunt force and sending his bag and its contents flying. Dee began pressing kisses all over Ryo's shocked face, telling him, "Oh Ryo! We're having a baby! Oh, praise God! This is so amazing! You're going to have our baby! I love you, I love you, I love you!"

Ryo couldn't help but laugh a little at Dee's dramatic exclamation of love, but at the same time he was trying to push Dee off. "Come on, Dee, that hurts! I love you too, but get off!"

Dee replied to his request with enthusiasm, even pulling Ryo up off the ground as well. Dee was grinning from ear to ear and laughing like a little child, and Ryo was smiling too, happy that he was happy. But Ryo stopped smiling as soon as he saw Bikky, who was trying his hardest not to cry in front of them.

"Bikky, what's wrong? You can tell us," Ryo said softly, using his dad voice.

Bikky sniffled, looking down at the ground again. He could barely be made out saying, "Now that you guys have a baby of your own, you're just going to forget about me!" before he turned around and ran as fast as he could into his room, shutting the door with an echoing slam.

Ryo sighed and ran a hand through his chestnut-colored hair before taking a seat on the couch. "I didn't mean to upset him," he said, looking at Dee for some answers.

"Oh, come on, the kid'll get over it," Dee responded in a snarky tone, sitting down next to Ryo and putting his head in his lap, snuggling into his tummy. "Oh my God, a little baby's growing in there! Can you believe that?"

Ryo sighed, knowing Dee was going to want to talk more about his own feelings rather than Bikky's. "The doctor said I'm seven weeks along," he said, recalling his visit from earlier that day, even though it felt like it was much longer ago than that, "and he said I need to start seeing an obstetrician."

"Wow. I just can't believe it. We're going to be daddies!" Dee replied happily, poking Ryo's tummy and laughing in his crazy way.

"I thought you didn't like kids," Ryo asked in his nonchalant tone.

"Not usually, but come on baby, this is you and me's kid! It's gonna have my sexiness and your smarts! My sarcastic wit and your down-to-earth personality!"

Ryo smiled at him, but Dee saw past it immediately. "What, did you think I was going to be unhappy?"

Shrugging, Ryo told him, "Well, I just wasn't sure. I felt like you could take it either way."

"How could you think that? I love you. And I love this baby because it's a part of us. This baby symbolizes our love that we have together! All those nights we spend in bed, where we go at it like rabbits, it means something. At least to me, it does."

"It means something to me too," Ryo said, with a genuine smile on his face, "and I'm really glad you feel that way. I couldn't do this without you."

"Hey, I'm here every step of the way. Whatever you need, I'll be there! Whenever, where ever, however!"

"As long as you're not always in my face," Ryo told him, with an annoyed expression. "One thing though that is really bothering me, and I hate to say it, is the smoking."

Dee's shoulders slumped a little bit. "I guess I should really quit, huh? Set a good example for our little baby?"

"It would be a nice thing to do. Besides, I just can't stand the smell anymore. It actually does hurt my head, and it makes me nauseous."

"Sorry," Dee said, starting to understand Ryo's behavior much more now than the past few days. "I'll go down to the store and buy some of those patches or something. You know, now I can see why you've been so tired."

Ryo flushed a little bit at Dee's concern. "I've been throwing up too," he admitted to Dee.

"Why didn't you tell me that?"

"Because you act like that."

"Sorry, I'm just a little concerned when you don't feel good. I think it's pretty normal to feel concerned when your boyfriend is sick," Dee said, rubbing Ryo's stomach softly with his overworked hands.

"You're too good," Ryo told him with a smile. They had a nice, peaceful moment of silence together on the couch before Ryo remembered about Bikky. "What should we do about him?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing in concern.

"You already know the gender? Jesus, technology is good nowadays!" Dee exclaimed excitedly.

"No, not the baby, Bikky. He's really upset about this…I understand why he might feel this way, but we need to let him know that just because we'll have a child of our own, that doesn't mean we'll ignore him. "

"Just tell him exactly what you just told me. I think in the long run, he'll be okay, but we just have to make sure we still take an active role in going to his basketball games and conferences and dumb shit like that," Dee told him, closing his eyes and relaxing after a long day on the job.

Ryo smiled a little at Dee's tired behavior and ran his fingers through his lush black hair. "I guess you're right. Sometimes it's just hard for Bikky to understand just how much we really care about him. There might be times when we don't show up on time, like tonight. I already started thinking about how hard it will be to manage a baby, Bikky and our jobs and-"

Dee brought his finger to Ryo's lips without even having to look up. "Don't even start with that crazy talk. Let's just take this one day at a time."

"I suppose you're right, for once," Ryo said with an exhausted sigh, and they sat there in peace for another thirty seconds before Ryo began to stretch. "We should probably go talk to him now, and then hit the sack. I'm completely beat."

"Let me carry you!" Dee offered enthusiastically, standing up and attempting to pick Ryo up, but instead being greeted by Ryo's more enthusiastic fist.

"I don't need help," Ryo replied in his normally cold manner, and Dee let out a soft sigh, but at the same time, smiled widely. It was true that he hated kids, babies especially, but this wasn't just any baby. This was his and Ryo's baby, one that came from the two people he loved the most. And while his own reaction shocked him more than he thought it would, he would just focus on being happy and supporting Ryo-even if it meant quitting smoking and being nice to the brat Bikky.

* * *

Bikky's room was pretty typical of an American teenage boy: there were posters of famous NBA players adorning the walls, clothes that were either dirty or clean in wrinkled piles on the floor, an unmade bed that was very plain, and a closet so full of various items it would no longer close. There wasn't exactly a lot of space for sitting in his room, so Bikky sat in his old desk chair that had rolling wheels on the bottom, while Ryo sat close to him on the bed and Dee stood close to the door in case he could think of an excuse to leave.

"Bikky, I'm sorry that you had to find out about it this way-"

"Was there any better way to find out?" Bikky replied begrudgingly, forcing himself to not make eye contact with either of them.

Ryo let out a sigh. Trying to tell Bikky about this baby had gone down south fast, and he wasn't sure how to make it any better. "Well, I had planned on having a separate conversation with Dee first, to let him know that he was becoming a father, you know, and then I was going to talk to you and let you know that you were becoming a big brother soon."

Bikky stayed silent, going over everything that had happened that night in his head. First Ryo came home hours later than when he said he was going to be home. Second, Dee had to come with him. And third, now he was expected to take the backseat as a new baby came into the house.

"Dee and I just want to let you know that nothing is going to change between us and you-well, hopefully you and Dee will like each other more-but what I mean is, you aren't going to be left out just because we're having a biological child."

"You say that now," Bikky said glumly, "but when the baby comes it will be different. You'll care more about it than me, you'll stop coming to my games, you'll make me babysit…"

"That's not true…" Ryo offered weakly, unsure of what else to say. It appeared Bikky had already made up his mind about what he thought of this baby, and nothing was helping him see otherwise.

"Listen, brat," Dee said, in his deep, authoritative tone, "what Ryo says, he means. The reason he adopted you in the first place is because he loved you, no matter what you did or said or how many times you hit me for no reason. That being said, just because our family is growing doesn't mean that change isn't coming. Things will be different, but they won't be very different. We'll be gone for the same amount of time we usually are, with us taking time off in the beginning. The baby will have its own babysitter, not you, because you'll be at school, although sometimes it wouldn't kill you to pitch in when we're doing overtime. Money will be a little tighter, and we'll just have another person in the house. That's it. No one's going to forget you exist just because another person shows up, alright?"

Ryo had turned pink with admiration, while Bikky sat there with his poker face on, but on the inside he was in shock. While his entire life he had been told lies and been used by people, he couldn't help but feel as if he…was trusting what Dee was saying. It made him want to throw up.

"Okay, you guys. Can I just go to bed? I'm tired," he replied nonchalantly, as a teenage boy would. Dee rolled his eyes at him, but even he knew Bikky was impressed.

"Of course. Sleep well, Biks," Ryo told him, standing up and pulling his son into a tight embrace, which Bikky returned half-heartedly. Ryo kissed his forehead and whispered softly, "I love you," and he could feel Bikky squirm uncomfortably against him. Even if the teen didn't like his affection, Ryo didn't care, because not too far in the future would he be leaving for college and gone out of their lives.

* * *

Settling down into the enormous bed Ryo had kept as a memory of his parents, Dee turned to look at Ryo, who was clearly ready for sleep to entrance his body. He wasn't getting laid tonight, that was for sure.

Noticing his stares, Ryo felt his face get hot as he looked back at Dee. "Is there something you want?"

"Nothing. I just like looking at you, that's all," Dee replied, in a cool tone that fit the outside darkness well.

Blushing more and more by the second, Ryo leaned over to Dee and took his head in one hand, placing a kiss on his soft lips. Dee reacted to him immediately, letting his tongue freely slide in to Ryo's mouth and using his right hand to support Ryo's back, rubbing it gently. At the smooth touch, Ryo let out a few soft moans of appreciation.

As soon as they parted for air, Ryo said lowly, "That feels good, on my back…it's been sore lately…"

"Do you want a massage?" Dee whispered, and he looked closely to see Ryo nodding his head. Dee switched their positions to being on top of his lover, and slowly began to rub out all the kinks in his back. Ryo pushed his face into Dee's pillow and moaned out words of kindness, happy to have some relief, both mentally and physically. His mind suddenly snapped back to Dee, and what a great boyfriend he had been recently, doing most things without complaint. It still registered to him as shocking on how well Dee had taken the news of becoming a father, but it was a good thing that he was happy rather than as stressed as Ryo was. Perhaps when he was farther along, Dee would begin to see what he was really getting into.

Regardless, Ryo knew Dee had been needy lately, and due to his constant sickness, he had to keep denying his advances. But tonight, with his back all rubbed out, he actually didn't feel so poorly, and with everything going on around him, with the sound of absolute quiet in his house and the crisp midnight air surrounding them, with the warmth of Dee's touch on his sore body and the feelings aroused in him by it all, and most importantly, the life growing inside of him, made by the love he had for another man, Ryo gave in to Dee's needs.

Turning around so their faces were together, Ryo leaned up and kissed Dee again, this time with much more fervor. His arms wrapped around Dee's body so as to pull him in closer, to steal his body heat from him.

It instantly clicked in Dee's mind what he was doing, but it still surprised him nonetheless. He kissed Ryo back, sucking on his sweet lips with want, cascading his fingers through Ryo's soft hair with need, and molding their bodies together with desire.

"Ryo," he asked breathlessly, pulling their lips apart and noticing how Ryo's hands instantly went to the buttons in his shirt, trying to force them loose with quick work, "are you sure you want to?"

"Of course I do," Ryo whispered back, finally succeeding in letting the buttons loose and pulling off Dee's shirt readily. Dee shook with excitement as he stole Ryo in for another kiss, happy to finally get what he so desperately needed, even if it meant waiting for his Ryo to get what he needed first.

Gently, Dee rested his left hand on Ryo's abdomen, where the tiniest swell was beginning to form. Silently, Ryo's cheeks were tinged with pink just as Dee's were, but they both smiled at each other through the darkness before they returned to making out, acknowledging first where their love making had brought them. In a way, they weren't really making love; they were just fostering the love they already had for each other. And now that a baby was on the way, the love they had for each other was about to multiply. This thought was present in their minds as the couple made love several times through the night, to make up for it being a while since their last time together. That night, neither told each other that they loved the other, but the words hung in the fall air, the warmest thing in the coldest room in the apartment.

* * *

Author's Notes: End of chapter five! Wow, the funny thing about this chapter is that I couldn't stop writing once I got to the end! I kept telling myself 'end it here, end it here' but I just couldn't! Now I'm not really sure if I like the ending, it's just so long! Sigh :( also guys, because I am so in love with FAKE, I have started my own playlist of songs on Spotify that give me FAKE feels! All very romantic songs, of course, but I don't currently have very many :P if any of you have song suggestions, feel free to send them to me! I would love to hear your feedback!

Anywhoo, next chapter we get to see JJ and Drake again! Yay! And I promise you, the reactions to the pregnancy are different with both of them…so don't expect it to be at all similar to Ryo and Dee! See you next time! xx


	6. Father Figure, Part 2

Author's Notes: Welcome to chapter six everyone! I can't believe we're at this point already…but we're not done yet! No, this is going to be a longer story…lots of fun plot twists are on the way, I promise! One of my big things about writing a FAKE story was how I wanted to make sure there was a good criminal plot to it, just like how it is in the actual FAKE! Unfortunately, I can't say I'm good at criminal things…I don't really watch very much TV, but maybe I should watch some more Law and Order: SVU? It's my favorite out of all of them!

This chapter is very strange, and it ended up being much different than I wanted it to be. I go into my own opinion of JJ's background in here, since he doesn't really have much of one in the actual books! So I hope everyone enjoys it and tries to see where I'm going with it, and I try to explain myself at the very end, so in case you don't really understand why I did what I did, head there! I hope you all like this and don't think I'm totally insane!

As always, I don't own FAKE, its plot, or the ice cream shop that is being used in this chapter! The only reason I picked a real place instead of inventing one myself was because I wanted it to seem more real. I also own Andrea, the lady who shows up in this chapter. Happy reading!

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It was pouring down rain, the traffic had gone from surprisingly clear to terrible, and an older gentleman had rudely bumped into him, knocking him with brute force to the ground. New York City, the exact place he had dreamed of as a little boy, the magic land where Charlotte York had found her prince on HBO, where Audrey Hepburn created a new generation of beautiful women, and where the rich and industrious prospered years before, had turned into his concrete prison.

JJ couldn't remember much of being young, mostly because he had spent years trying to block out all the awful memories he had. From a young age, he always fell in the shadows of his older brother Terrence, who was perfect at everything imaginable. He was a preppy, pristine Poughkeepsie dream, and JJ was, as his mother called him, a little fairy. At the age of six, JJ heard his mother chatting to one of her friends on the phone as she stuck the fortieth bobby pin into her teased hair, and he heard her say, "Jemmy is precious, truly, but he's quite obviously queer. He plays with dolls, Martha. Clearly the only thing he would medal in is equestrian sports, because he doesn't have the gall to play any contact sports."

School was worse than he could have ever imagined. As soon as he first went, on his first day, it was clear that everyone had taken sides and formed cliques, and poor, elaborate Jemmy, Jemmy with the rich father and Dolce kids sweater, was on the outside. And good Lord, it was the Faith Christian Academy, so every kid there looked upon him with this disgust. The teachers were not paid to care about his problems, they were paid to teach, and that was what they did, no more, no less. Now that he was older, JJ found it funny that most everyone knew he was gay before he did.

As a lonely elementary school boy, JJ found pleasure in the little things. He would play in his mother's closet, trying on Lilly Pulitzer dresses and pearl necklaces imported from Japan, and he would sit at his mother's boudoir and read _Better Homes and Gardens_, hoping one day to have a home as nice as the ones in that magazine. He watched all the movie stars in their classics; Marilyn, Audrey, Natalie, Josephine, Marlene, and most importantly, Grace. She was everything JJ had ever wanted to be. Grace Kelly, movie star, classic beauty, _princess! _Everything about her gave him chills. JJ worshiped her. This only made him more ridiculed by his peers.

Middle school, while he was still in the Academy, was when he knew. JJ knew that everyone loved Kirk Cameron, but no boy masturbated to him. There was something about the admittance of being gay that caused JJ to feel loneliness for the first time in his life. He had always been alone, with only his family and no real friends, but now that he could finally put a name to exactly _why_ he was alone put it all in perspective. He would walk into his bathroom and stare at himself in the mirror, looking hard, for hours even, trying to find the gay in himself. Everyone else apparently saw it, but no matter how hard he looked, he didn't see it. He looked like any normal boy his age. Brown hair, brown eyebrows, long eyelashes, plump lips, bright blue eyes, Italian cashmere sweater the color of the ocean layered over a dress shirt and tie, oxford shoes. New York, private school boy. Average. And yet, different. How is it that one could be average and different at the same time?

The bullying became much worse after he himself acknowledged it. Now, the kids were ruthless. He was pushed in the hallway, yelled at, food was thrown at him, and he received various threats scrawled on crumpled pieces of lined paper he found virtually everywhere. He begged his parents to go to a different school.

"They make fun of me everyday! I can't go one day without being harassed by someone!" he whined miserably, noticing how the facial expressions of his family members indicated no real concern over his well being.

"Have you ever tried acting less gay?" his father told him bluntly, not bothering to look up from his copy of the _Times. _JJ knew the answer was no, he was stuck in hell for a few more years. Then he would move, to a utopia where everyone loved him, where he had lots of friends, where he would shine and be himself.

They surprised him that summer before his freshman year, but not too much; he was only transferring to Our Lady of Lourdes, a Roman Catholic private high school. It still had that religious stigma associated with it, the same one that never exactly welcomed JJ with open arms.

He wasn't entirely sure where his obsession with lavender came from, but he was pretty sure it had something to do with that day he was walking with his mother in the outlet mall, and a lady from the L'Occitane store handed him a sample of one of their perfumes, Lavender Eau de Cologne. He ended up coming back later and buying a bottle of it, hiding it in his closet. Not only was the smell romantic and appealing in every mood he had, but the color was gorgeous. Pastel colors were his favorite, because they reminded him of elaborate Easter celebrations that the church put on every year.

He also wasn't entirely sure why one day, he bought a bottle of bleach and dyed his hair the brightest shade of blonde possible for his hair color. When it had time to sit, he took purple hair dye from the convenience store and diluted it with a regular white conditioner, and when he was all done, his hair had turned a lovely shade of lavender. It was truly beautiful, but at the same time, incredibly sad, because when he looked in the mirror, he finally saw just how gay he was.

His parents complained nonstop, about how he just ruined all of his chances to try to be normal by dyeing his hair, but he didn't care, because he knew they didn't either. His hair was fabulous; maybe one day, he would be too.

High school was awful, worse than middle school. Transferring schools did nothing but alienate him further from everyone, and his bright hair was the subject of much torment towards him. Regardless of that, JJ continued to re-dye it, maintaining it well, so as not to show his roots too much. The only reason he did this was because he realized that he had to find beauty in something, because if he couldn't, there wasn't anything else for him to live for.

He cut out pictures from magazines and hung them all over his room, admiring fashion trends. Right below his framed photo of Grace Kelly was his stack of _Vogue_ magazines, close to his neat and freshly made bed. He began teasing the crown of his hair and blow-drying it with a round brush, adding volume to his pastel purple locks. He wore false eyelashes and put on concealer, allowing himself to look as pretty as all the other models. He idolized Los Angeles, Paris, London, but most importantly, New York City, the land of dreams. Yes, that's where he would go after graduating. He would lose himself amongst a land of millions of love-hungry citizens, and somehow, everything would go perfectly, because that's what happened to all of them. To Audrey, Marilyn, Natalie. To _Grace._

His senior year came, and his parents presented him with a strange decision; he wasn't allowed to go on to just any college, he had to go to cosmetology school.

"But I want to go to New York City," he replied to their strange demand, looking down like he usually did. What was the point in focusing energy looking up? There was nothing beautiful to feast his eyes on. His parents were far from beautiful people. Beautiful people didn't refer to their son as a purple faggot.

"They have those there," his mother answered him, reading a book at the same time, feeling rather disdainful that there was any concern on her son's part. "You can go live there and have fun, if that's what you want."

"Why can't I go to a regular college? Terrence got accepted to Yale, and you let him go," JJ protested, feeling weaker by the second.

Both of his parents laughed at him as if that was the best joke they had heard in years. "No, son, you can't go to Yale! That's a _normal _school. You have to go somewhere where you and your people, well, where your people are," his father told him bluntly, and that was that.

JJ wasn't sure whether or not it was a good thing that his parents more or less accepted his homosexuality, or a bad thing that they considered him to be less than human because of it.

In the city, things went well for him. Beauty school was okay. He lived in the Bronx, at an apartment he had decked out in perfect preppy furniture. But something was entirely off, and he started to feel it more and more as his time in the city grew longer. He didn't feel right anymore. He was finally there, in legendary New York City, the land of dreams, and nothing seemed beautiful anymore. Not even his dyed lavender hair was beautiful to him.

They told him he was severely depressed. They wondered why he hadn't done anything about it earlier, but he didn't really know why himself. He was put on medication immediately, and he started going to therapy. It was there when his therapist inquired, "Jemmy, don't you think you underestimate yourself a bit?"

That's when he applied to become a police officer. The interviewing officer questioned his application-21 years old, suffering from depression, beauty school graduate, wants to become an NYPD officer? Nevertheless, after proving himself through a series of physical, mental and educational tests, there was no doubt that he truly wanted this for himself.

In the police academy, at 21 years of age, JJ started going by JJ, and he also met Dee. The raven-haired man was God to JJ, particularly for his confident attitude and romance novel looks. It was with the bait of Dee that JJ found himself, finally, after years of having no one. And while Dee never returned his affections, he wasn't a complete jerk to him; he was the first person ever to actually not tell JJ to go to hell.

There was something that happened after going to the academy that JJ had never experienced before. He made friends, and was accepted. For once, he was happy. His medication was working, perhaps too well; he came out of his shell entirely, releasing an energetic, happy being that was locked up inside of him for over twenty years. To his coworkers, this was only annoying, but to JJ, it was _beautiful._

After graduating, JJ got hired in a town further upstate, so he moved there. He discovered just how great of a marksman he was. He made lots of new friends. His closet became filled with designer fashions. His calendar was carefully scheduled with when to re-dye his hair. He went on dates and slept with other men. And he always made sure he had his Prozac with him, and he always took it when he was supposed to.

When he was informed he was moving back to the Bronx to be at the 27th, JJ was ecstatic. Dee was there, along with that pesky Ryo. And his partner Drake was a good guy, minus his shortcomings. He had plenty to be sad about; Dee being taken, usually being lonely, hearing from family rarely, but he knew negativity wasn't the answer. Life was beautiful. Beauty was all JJ had.

But somehow, on this rainy fall day, JJ couldn't find beauty in much. The air was putrid, the stench of city garbage clogging up his nose unpleasantly. Traffic was loud, and car horns wailed in his ears. His arm throbbed from being knocked down. Worse off, his nausea was building up, due to the baby he was carrying. It was not beautiful. Why was it there? Why did it have to be there?

Prozac helped his brain to release the happy that was building up over a long period of time. Prozac did not seem to work the same way when you were taking it alongside pregnancy; now JJ felt angry and sad all at the same time, which was most certainly not like him. He never would have considered doing what he was about to do if it hadn't have been for the strange combination of hormones running through his body.

He opened the doors to the cheesy looking ice cream joint, and the rush of air that hit him caused his stomach to jolt uncomfortably. He tried to scan the room for Drake, but was unable to find him at the rate his eyes were passing over people.

"Um, excuse me sir, can I help you?" asked a timid employee behind the counter, staring at the rabid-looking JJ with concern.

"WHERE THE HELL IS DRAKE PARKER?!" JJ yelled, causing everyone in the chilly ice cream shop to turn around and stare at him as well. Drake gulped from his seat far in the back, and his girlfriend Andrea only raised an eyebrow.

"JJ, what are you doing?" Drake spoke up nervously, and he began to feel sweat forming on his face as JJ began strutting over to him at a fast pace. Before Drake could even attempt to understand what was happening, JJ had tackled him to the ground, pushing his own ice cream onto Andrea and feeling JJ's soft hands grasp around his neck.

"JJ! Jesus, stop! JJ!" Drake attempted, barely able to breathe as he tried to fight off JJ, who was shaking him and scratching at his arms.

"YOU DID THIS TO ME! THIS IS YOUR FAULT! YOU DUMB BASTARD!" JJ screamed in resentment, breathing hard as he attempted to kill his partner. Unfortunately, he felt someone come behind him and rip him off of Drake, and he tried to kick and fight out of the grasp, but it was near impossible. A three hundred-pound man was holding him up, as Drake tried his best to breathe properly after being choked to near death.

"What the hell did I do?" Drake coughed out, standing up and staring at JJ with widened eyes of frustration.

"YOU KNOCKED ME UP! IT'S ALL YOUR GOD DAMNED FAULT! FUCK YOU, DRAKE PARKER!" JJ continued screaming as he was escorted out of the ice cream bar by the enormous employee, who gave him a hard glare and said, "If you ever step back in this store, I will call the police. Do you understand?"

"I am the police, you bastard!" JJ yelled back in rage, but the man was already gone. He wasn't gone for long, however; next he brought with him Drake and his girlfriend, who JJ immediately began judging in his head. She had fake boobs. Real boobs weren't that round.

"I'm so sorry sir, I promise I'll never come back again," Drake mumbled in embarrassment, as his girlfriend, who was covered in cold ice cream, frowned perpetually. JJ instantly thought _wrinkles!_

"Drake, you told me you were straight. What the hell is this, you knocked up some dude?" she asked him angrily, clearly not having it today.

"I didn't know! I just found out he's pregnant! You were right there!"

"But you did have sex with him then? You admit that?"

Drake sighed loudly and in irritation. Clearly, he hadn't gone to Sunday School enough when he was a kid, because God seemed to have a perpetual hatred for him.

"You know what Drake, have fun being a father and all. I'm not going to date a closet homosexual."

"Wait, you don't understand! It was out of pity! I'm not gay! All of my coworkers are, but I'm not, I promise!" Drake yelled after her, but she didn't care. After she had walked away, Drake turned around to see that JJ was sitting on the sidewalk dejectedly, and from what Drake could hear, he was sobbing. After sighing for the umpteenth time, he decided to make his way over to JJ and see if he could make sense of anything.

As soon as JJ could feel Drake's presence near him, he tried to stop crying. Why was he even crying? Why was he so sad? He couldn't tell. Why did he ruin Drake's night? It was Drake who was just trying to be nice to him in the first place.

"I'm sorry," JJ mumbled to him, keeping the tears held in, "I'm sorry I ruined your night. I'm really sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Drake rubbed his back with his left hand softly and sighed again. What else could he do? It seemed like sighing was the only possible rebuttal to this awful night. "It's okay, I know you're upset."

"I just keep acting so childishly and I really don't mean to…I mean, I almost killed that lady today, and I just made your night terrible…I'm sorry."

Drake looked up at the night sky for answers, but found none. One of the things he hated the most about the city was the fact that because the lights were always on, you could never see the stars. Maybe there was a time, a long time ago, when the stars shone through.

"Um…so you care to elaborate at all? On what's happened?" Drake asked him awkwardly, still rubbing his back gently. He did that every now and then, whenever JJ would go into some tangent on why Ryo sucked and why Dee should love him.

"Yeah…well, I'm preggers. And it's yours. Trust me Drake, I wouldn't do this to you if I wasn't sure…"

"Yeah, unfortunately, I believe you…" Drake mumbled, sending out a million eternal curses to himself. He was often one to make mistakes, but this time he had really screwed up. He didn't regret sleeping with JJ at all, because it felt just as good as it did with a woman, and he still got to be in charge, and JJ's body was nice and warm…no, he didn't regret having sex with him at all. He regretted not using a condom. He regretted having to be near JJ when his body decided it was baby making season. He regretted the fact that his parents didn't abort him while they still had the chance.

"Look, I really…I just don't really know…I'm not sure where to go from here." JJ told him, and Drake could see the abnormal amount of seriousness shining through in his eyes. JJ was usually bubbly and happy; seeing him so depressed was heartbreaking.

"I have to be honest with you, I don't really know how to feel either. I feel kinda like someone shot me with a taser or something like that," Drake told him, questioning how well an analogy like that would go over with vulnerable JJ.

"I'm keeping the baby," JJ continued, pretending not to hear what Drake had just said, "and I don't expect you to be involved if you don't want to be. You obviously have a life outside of me and work. You deserve to find a woman, you shouldn't be tied down by a nice favor you did for me."

"Oh come on, JJ, give me some more credit," Drake said, feeling some-horrifyingly-fatherly instinct arise in himself. "I want to be there too. It's our baby, and I had a part in making it. I'll be in the kid's life, it would be wrong not to be."

"But you-"

"You're not going to fight me on this one," Drake said firmly. "I know you fight me on paying for lunch and on who does more paperwork, but you just can't win this time. It's important for a kid to have their parents in their lives. We both know how screwed up Dee turned out to be."

JJ couldn't help but crack up at that comment. "Don't be mean to Mr. Wonderful!" JJ said laughingly, but was suddenly panged with the thought that Dee was going to be a father soon, too. If only it was to his baby, then everything would be much better.

"Let's go home, it's getting dark out," Drake said after a moment of silence. JJ was about to agree with him, but was momentarily stunned after Drake pressed a kiss to his forehead. JJ couldn't help but smile in adoration; when Drake wanted to be, he really was a good guy.

"You can stay on my couch tonight if you want," JJ offered hopefully, starting to dislike the premise of being alone. "I have some leftovers in my fridge, Swedish meatballs."

"Yeah, sure," Drake said with a sigh, standing and stretching as if he was releasing an entire weight off of his body. JJ stood up after him, and silently, they walked through the wet streets of New York City.

To JJ, New York City was no longer his dream, his sanctuary away from evil; it was quickly starting to revert back to the hell it was when he first got there. He needed to go in and talk to his doctor about being on anti-depressants while pregnant, because he was starting to become worried that they were making his controlled condition go back to what it used to be, and the last thing he wanted was to stop being a social butterfly and go back to living in darkness.

As for Drake, he walked alongside JJ with many lingering thoughts in his mind, but he tried to keep in mind that everything would work out in the end. Unfortunately, while the night sky remained clear for the remainder of the hours on the clock, Drake's mind was perpetually clouded with a worry that JJ would lose his mind before the baby was even born, and it was truly his own fault that this had occurred. Clarity could not be found for either of them that night. New York City was not just a concrete jungle, now it was a guarded prison.

* * *

Author's Notes: Okay, wow. This was supposed to be SO MUCH SHORTER! I had no intention on making this all about JJ's background, but that kind of went to hell really quickly…I hope that wasn't too hard to understand for anyone. Basically, the point I was trying to make is that JJ's sexuality and family upbringing gave him social anxiety and depression for years, and it took him a long time to come to terms with the fact that he was preventing himself from being happy because of it. Prozac, a common anti-depressant, is used to help the brain produce serotonin, basically happiness. So he was basically all drugged out, which is how he learned to find happiness naturally, although he still takes the medicine just in case, and now that he's pregnant he's worried that not taking it will inhibit him from being happy. Was that even any good? I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. It's…hmm. Oh well, it's too late now!

Since there isn't much background on JJ, I used what little I could from FAKE. Volume five is about as close as you can get; in the side story with Max Fork, Max yells at him that he's just 'a pathetic, rich boy', which is why I gave him the background of coming from a rich family in Poughkeepsie (town halfway between NYC and Albany). At Max's grave site, JJ later says, "I'm depressed, but I don't plan on committing suicide anytime soon" which is why I didn't necessarily make him suicidal. I tried to make him seem unhappy and unsure of why he felt that way, without really ever thinking of a solution to this unhappiness. I'm sorry that I feel the need to explain all of this! Maybe I'm over thinking things again…

Anyway, next chapter will probably be up within the next few weeks, so look out for it! Next chapter begins a little bit of a time skip, where it will move ahead in the plot about two weeks, making each of them three months along. Now while it's more common to refer to pregnancy by months, considering how it makes everything much easier, in medical terms Ryo and JJ will be referred to in how far along they are by weeks, which is what they would use to give a more accurate description. Basically, the chapters are kind of indicated by months, but in the story by weeks. Am I making any sense tonight?!

If you've gotten through this whole chapter and you're not confused, congratulations! If you do have any further questions, feel free to drop me a review or PM and I will do my best to answer in a timely manner! See you next time! (if I haven't confused you to death…) xx


	7. Alive, Awake, Alert, Enthusiastic

Author's Notes: Hello everyone! I'm back with the seventh chapter of this little installment, and oh boy, am I excited! I just love writing this story. It makes me so happy! :) this chapter's gonna be a good one, I hope! Lots of fun pregnancy stuff, finally! Because there are so many symptoms of pregnancy, I'm going to try to differentiate for both of them, to make it more interesting! Bear with me!

I don't own FAKE or its plot, however I do own this story plot and the two doctors mentioned in this chapter. Other than that, everyone belongs to Sanami Matoh! Enjoy!

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According to measurements, both Ryo and JJ were now in their respective third month of pregnancy, with Ryo at nine weeks and JJ at ten. Thankfully, no baby bumps were currently present, but both of them knew that soon they would be showing. JJ was trying his best to think of clothing ideas that would cleverly disguise his bump, but Ryo was much more practical, and he aimed to cross that road when he got to it.

That morning, Ryo passed JJ in the hallway and noticed immediately how tired he looked. He knew JJ had been suffering because of his pregnancy, but he hoped that he would be able to figure it out for himself.

JJ, on the other hand, was trying his best to make it through the day without collapsing. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't sleep at night, and he would then go to work like a zombie the next day. He hoped that the withdrawal symptoms would wear off quickly, like the doctor had said.

* * *

_One week before_

"Yes, um, I have an appointment with a Dr. Goldstein, for 9:30," JJ told the receptionist timidly. He couldn't help but feel awkward amongst the other women in the waiting room, who stared at him in vain interest. It was made even more awkward with Drake standing behind him, dumbfoundedly reading a pamphlet on diseases common in pregnancy.

Drake had insisted on going, half because he was kinda interested in what was going on in JJ's body, and half because he was worried he was going to jump off a bridge at any given moment. Ever since he found out he was going to be a father, Drake had gone between doing his best to make sure JJ was okay to chain-smoking lethargically. The thought of impending fatherhood terrified him, but he did his best to try and make sure that JJ wasn't aware of this. He really didn't need anymore stress than he already had.

"What's your name, ma'am?" the receptionist, who was dressed in a beige top with a face that reminded one of a horse, asked him bluntly.

JJ blushed profusely as Drake did his best to cease his laughter. He was commonly mistaken for a girl, which he never quite understood; he was, after all, very flat-chested. "My name is Jemmy, Jemmy Adams," he said softly, looking down at the carpet beneath his feet. It wasn't great looking. It appeared to him to look like the throw up of a toddler.

"Oh, yes. Since it's your first visit, I'll need you to fill these out," she instructed him, handing over a clipboard and a pen. Obligingly, JJ took them and followed Drake over to two empty plastic chairs, right next to an obviously fake plant.

JJ began looking over the questions and answering them as honestly as he could remember, pausing at certain questions to think harder. One question asked _HISTORY OF MENTAL ILLNESS? _Checking the box, he wrote next to it neatly and in cursive, _chronic depression. _

"Oh…there are questions about you here too," JJ told Drake softly, checking boxes as he saw fit. "Smoker? Yes. Drinker? Yes. Age? 30. History of disease? Probably."

"Oh, shut up," Drake said with a lazy smile, taking the pen from him and trying to cross out things that JJ had filled in already. "Smoking is my one vice. Let me have that."

"I'm sorry, but it stinks. And you stink!" JJ said with a laugh, taking the pen from Drake and trying to draw on his arm childishly. They were causing quite a ruckus in the normally quiet waiting room, and several women stared angrily at them. Everyone was quite happy when JJ's name was called.

After being brought into a standard patient room, JJ's vitals were taken; everything was normal, like expected. JJ and Drake were then left to wait in the small and plain room all to themselves.

Drake tried to think of things to say that weren't possibly triggering on JJ's emotions, such as _parenthood, babies _or _antidepressants,_ but JJ beat him to it. "I bet you they're going to make me get off my antidepressants for the baby," he stated robotically, unsure of how to feel about what he had said.

"I'm sure there's something else you can do, you know, that'll make you happy," Drake tried, wagering the offensiveness of anything he thought to say in his mind carefully. "They just want to lower any risks to the baby while keeping you…you know…"

"Sane?" JJ finished for him with a saddened smile, regardless of Drake's instant look of regret. "It's okay, you know. You can say it. I'm kinda cray-cray."

"But you're not though. At least, not to me." Drake admitted, looking at him with a fiery expression in his eyes.

JJ felt his cheeks tinge a little with embarrassment. It was kind of Drake to say such a thing, and to be so supportive, but he had no idea what was going on in his head.

Before either of them could say anymore, Dr. Goldstein made her appearance at long last. She was a middle-aged woman with medium-length brown hair and cat-eye framed glasses, and her age was pleasantly displayed by many wrinkles. "You must be Mr. Adams," she said, speaking with a slight German accent. "My name is Patricia Goldstein, and I'm pleased to be your obstetrician."

"Hi, you can just call me JJ," he replied in a mock cheerful tone, one that Drake could spot out easily. "And, um, this is the baby's father, Drake Parker."

"Hey," Drake said coolly, with a nod of his head. Both shook the hand of the doctor before she sat down and got to business.

"Alright, I believe it's most important to say congratulations! You two are going to be proud parents! Are you excited?"

Neither of them said anything, creating a tension filled silence in the room. Drake quickly cleared his throat to try and fill the air with something, and JJ smiled and nodded weakly.

"It wasn't exactly planned," he clarified for the confused doctor, folding his hands together to stop himself from fidgeting.

"I see. Well, nonetheless, I'm sure you'll both find happiness in your child as the months go on. Now, to move on to the medical aspect…as I was reading over your file, JJ, it appears you're very healthy."

"Yes, we're both NYPD cops, we have to maintain a good level of physical strength," JJ told her, brushing his lavender locks behind his ear.

"I see. What a job you have there! But I did notice you filled out that you suffer from depression. Are you currently receiving any type of treatment for that?"

"Yeah, I'm on Prozac…but it hasn't really been working lately. I've felt much like how I used to feel before I was on it," JJ admitted, ignoring the intrigued stare of Drake. "I'm really sad and moody often."

"That's certainly not good. Usually Prozac, or fluoxetine, isn't harmful during pregnancy, but in your case it seems like it's doing you more bad than good. It's likely due to the unusual hormone balance in your body. Have you considered alternative methods of treatment? In your case, it might be better to consider going off the medication and switching to something less taxing on your body."

JJ considered all of this carefully, but the thought of even being taken off his regular pattern of medication already began to mess with his mind. What if he went completely crazy?

"What others options are there?" he asked quietly, his mind filled with many thoughts. Next to him, Drake looked very concerned. He also looked like he needed a smoke.

"I think you should look into psychotherapy. It's an effective method that doesn't have to involve medication. And if worst comes to worst, and you're still not feeling happy after that, we can just put you on a different medication. It's also important to note that you won't be pregnant forever, so if it really bothers you, just remember that it isn't long-term."

JJ nodded in uncertainty before turning to look at Drake, who in return gave him a curious eyebrow raise. He knew this was going to take some thinking about.

"Of course, if you feel so strongly about keeping to your same medication, and if you're worried about losing yourself in these emotions you're having…of course, termination of the pregnancy is always an option," she said steadily, immediately taken aback by the morose look on JJ's face.

"I could never do that! Nuh-uh, no way Jose!" he said, pouting his bottom lip out a little.

Drake couldn't help but smile a little at JJ's antics, but he knew also in his heart that if he were given the option to decide whether or not JJ had the baby, he would say yes without missing a heartbeat. No matter how screwed up his life was, Drake had to appreciate the timely arrival of a child, especially if JJ was the other dad.

"So, what do you say, JJ?" he asked him, leaning on the arm of the plastic chair and supporting his shaven-chin with his fist.

JJ let out a sigh and looked from Drake to the doctor. "I guess I could do the therapy thing. You know, for the baby and I."

Dr. Goldstein smiled at him, with a smile that reminded one of a loving grandparent's. "Excellent. When are you due for a refill on your prescription?"

"Um…next week, I think."

"Then how about I prescribe you a lower dosage for the next two months, and by then we'll just go ahead and end it from there. I also want you to schedule an appointment with a psychotherapist. I can go ahead and refer you to one of the doctors within this branch."

"Thank you," JJ muttered quietly as he watched her wrinkled hands write in black ink special directions on a piece of yellow pad paper. He then turned to look at Drake, who was smiling ever so softly, happy that JJ was doing his best to find his inner peace. "Thank you," he said again, but this time it was to Drake, for doing his best to always care, even when it wasn't his responsibility.

* * *

As JJ passed Ryo in the hall that morning, he tried to look alert, but the withdrawal symptoms from the Prozac were keeping him tired and unhealthy looking. Instead of following doctor's orders and taking smaller doses for a certain period of time, JJ decided to throw out his prescription entirely, in order to quit the medication he had relied on for so long. For inspiration, he taped the picture of the ultrasound they had received, the one with their prune-sized little muffin, right next to his medicine cabinet. He promised not to tell anyone, but Drake took a copy too, and taped it right next to his ashtray in his bedroom.

Ryo didn't look too awful himself, JJ had to admit. He had a bit of the pregnancy glow, it almost seemed. From what he had heard and witnessed, he had been a bit moody at work-one minute he was overly happy to be working on paperwork, the other minute he was upset with Dee for mollycoddling him. JJ had noticed that the latter had taken to the news rather well, and he had used it as an opportunity to remain close to Ryo all day, which Ryo did not enjoy at all. Even with that, it appeared to JJ that Ryo was having the perfect pregnancy. Ryo, however, might just disagree with that statement.

* * *

_A few days before_

Ryo had begun to regret bringing Dee with him to his first appointment before they were even there. That morning, because Dee had insisted on staying over (again), there was no need to rush out the door to try to get there; instead, a seemingly peaceful breakfast with Dee and Bikky was on the agenda. Seemingly was the key word.

"Why won't you just go home already, you nasty pervert." Bikky complained over some sugary cereal and an orange, glaring at Dee with the fury of a thousand hells combined.

Dee gave him a glare right back, followed by a smug smile. "Because, dear loser, I must stay here and take good care of my pregnant wife!" He continued to smear butter on his toast with a cheerful expression.

"I'm not your wife," Ryo replied, unhappily frowning at his partner. "And really, Dee, you should go back to your own apartment for once. It's been at least a week."

"Do you honestly expect us to live in separate apartments once the baby comes? You and I really need to talk about moving in together."

"OH NO," Bikky exclaimed dramatically, dropping his spoon into his bowl as a few splatters of milk followed. "I AM NOT LIVING WITH THIS BASTARD!"

"Bikky, please," Ryo sighed, trying to get a hold of the situation in the calmest manner that he could. "And Dee, if you want to talk about this, let's talk about it later."

"It's bad enough that he comes over all the time, but I can't handle living with this dork! If he's coming, I'm going!"

"Fine, you brat! But like it or not, the Dee Machine's a'comin, and you will soon refer to me as the father of the house!" Dee yelled triumphantly, knocking over the jug of milk on the table without a single care.

"OH MY GOD!" Bikky screamed as he jolted from the dining table and dashed into his room, leaving Ryo to glare at a milk-laden table and Dee, who had taken to striking a superhero pose.

"You better clean this up within five minutes or you're not coming to my appointment!" Ryo snapped, getting up from the table and walking away to find his jacket. It had started to get a little chilly in the city, after all.

"YOU GOT IT, CAPTAIN!" Dee called, as he gleefully cleaned up the spilt milk without a single complaint. Ryo couldn't tell whether or not his overly helpfulness was his best dream or his worst nightmare, but he was well aware of how much Dee got on his nerves.

* * *

Dr. Jung was a stout Asian man who was nearing his fifties, as sparks of gray dashed across his hair. He peered out at Dee and Ryo from his clear, rounded spectacles, and Ryo couldn't help feeling nervous just by looking at him.

"You health looks very good, both of you, minus your smoking, Mr. Laytner," he said with a glare in Dee's direction, to which Dee just rolled his eyes. "The next thing we're going to do is just run some tests. Very standard, I assure you, and as soon as they're out of the way we'll get to the more interesting things, such as the ultrasound."

Ryo nodded attentively as he listened to his doctor ramble on about all the tests, but he couldn't quite focus and he suddenly began to feel tired. These incessant periods of sleepiness came and went for Ryo, and as much as he knew that this was the wrong time, he couldn't help losing what the doctor was saying and instead focusing on the light dimming out of the room.

"Hey, Ryo, come on! Wake up!" Dee said, his characteristically loud voice hitting Ryo's ears like a brick shattering against the ground.

Ryo blinked rapidly before looking up into the glaring face of the doctor. Nervously, he laughed and said, "Oh my gosh, did I just doze off? I'm sorry doctor, I've had weird sleeping patterns lately…"

"Quite alright. Probably just a symptom of pregnancy, that's all. Now that you're awake, let's move into a different room so we can begin the testing," he said, standing up and taking his files with him.

Ryo looked over at Dee, who was trying to hold in snickers from Ryo's poor sleeping attempt. With a glare and a shushing, Ryo stood up and followed the doctor out of the room, with Dee close behind.

And after a barrage of tests to determine things such as blood type, glucose level, and various diseases, they waited for even longer to get the results back. Once Ryo was given the all clear, the group moved into the ultrasound room, with Ryo propped up on the examining chair and Dee sitting close by, excitedly chattering about.

"We're finally gonna get to see it! I'm so excited! Holy crap, Ryo, aren't you so excited! We've never seen it before!" he went on, taking Ryo's hand and holding it closely.

Smiling, Ryo shook his head and took hold of Dee's hand, something that surprised even himself. "You're something else, you know that? Why can't you be this motivated at work?"

Rolling his eyes, Dee said, "Duh, cause work sucks! It's the same thing every day." Pausing to think for a moment, the case they were currently working on suddenly came into his mind. "Shit, do you think the chief will cut us from the case?"

It was a thought that Ryo hadn't considered. "You know, I don't really know. I would think we're good enough cops to handle it…and hopefully, we'll be able to get a good lead. There hasn't been any other activity lately, unfortunately."

"Guy's hard to track," Dee remarked, frowning at the thoughts formulating inside his head; what if it was Ryo who ended up dead, and their baby missing?

He quickly chased the thought out of his mind as Dr. Jung turned to face them and said, "Alright, we're ready to go here. Go ahead and pull your shirt up, Mr. Maclean."

Blushing, Ryo lifted up his green and white striped shirt to reveal his taut abdominal muscles, ones that were already starting to lose their shape in the slightest. Dee did his best not to gawk, as he knew in order to make Ryo happy he had to behave himself.

"This stuff will feel a little cold," Dr. Jung announced in his monotone voice, as he began to spread gel all over Ryo's exposed stomach. In response, Ryo giggled at the cool touch.

"Who do you think it's going to look more like? I bet it'll be me, with my dark hair and good looks, that baby has to have gotten my genes!" Dee exclaimed with a loud laugh, causing Ryo to punch him in the shoulder.

"Hopefully the baby will have my good sense…" he muttered under his breath, ignoring Dee saying, "Hey! I heard that!"

They both watched the screen carefully, waiting anxiously for the baby to become visible. As soon as they could make out the distinguished marks of a body, both Ryo and Dee let out a gasp. Both knew that a baby was there, but seeing it twitch around in the ultrasound monitor was something truly out of the ordinary.

"Wow…" Ryo exclaimed, staring in awe as he watched the screen and the little baby inside of it. "I can't believe it…it's so weird. It's moving, but I can't even feel it."

"You won't be able to feel it move until at least twenty weeks, so you have a while to go. The baby prefers to let you know it's there by the symptoms you experience instead."

"Yeah, I've had many of those-" Ryo started, but stopped as soon as he looked over at Dee and noticed him staring with an open jaw. "Dee, what's the matter?"

"Holy shit," he mumbled softly, his eyebrows twitching in response, "I'm going to be…a dad. Oh my God…"

Sighing, Ryo said, "I knew this was coming." Ryo was convinced that Dee's initial reaction of happiness and excitement would be shattered as soon as he knew what it would really mean to be a parent. It was going to mean complete commitment, focus, and ultimately, responsibility, and Ryo wasn't sure if Dee had all of that, especially the last part. Watching Dee interact with Bikky and even Bikky's friend Carol made Ryo nervous about how he would act as a parent.

For Dee, the sonogram displayed much more than a baby; it also showed his future. Parenting was a terrifying concept, considering his own parents weren't very good at it. He didn't want the life he had now with Ryo to crumble with the arrival of a baby. What if they turned into the people who lost themselves after they had kids? Dee had worked so hard to get his relationship with Ryo to be at the point where it was now-he couldn't lose him, or them, just yet. The baby would either make or break their relationship for the rest of their lives, and that thought in itself sent Dee into a horror-filled nightmare of being a father.

* * *

The New York sky was mostly clear for a fall day, minus a few scattered clouds here and there. On the rooftop of the 27th precinct, it was not clear to fellow cop Ted as to why he no longer had any cigarettes in his possession.

"God damnit! I swear, I just bought a new pack like yesterday!" the red-haired officer exclaimed, angrily digging through the folds of his coat pockets to no avail.

"Dude, here, take my whole pack!" Drake pleaded with him, his eyes bloodshot and his hands shaking with withdrawal. "I can't have 'em near me anymore, just take them!"

"No, take mine!" Dee offered, thrusting his Marlboros into Ted's empty right hand before anything else could be said or done. "I can't be trusted with them any longer!"

"Thanks, I guess?" Ted told them both, taking Drake's pack as well as lighting up as quickly as he could, despite his confusion. "Are you two honest to God quitting? Why the hell would you do that, you know, besides the obvious numerous health benefits…"

Drake said nothing, choosing instead to rapidly reach inside his own jacket pocket to pull out some gum, the kind that was extra thick and hard to chew. As soon as the square of sugar was in his mouth, he began to chomp incessantly, as if he needed to chew that gum to save his own life. Dee also remained silent, breathing in the fumes of nicotine released by Ted's cigarette with jealousy.

"You guys are fucking weirdos," Ted replied to himself with a laugh at the end, and the group of men remained silent for another few seconds until the air was broken with Dee's sharp voice.

"Oh shit! What time is it?"

"It's like, three," Drake muttered miserably, chomping down so hard on his gum he became worried that his gums were going to bleed.

"Damn, I need to go! Ryo and I are meeting with the chief," Dee said quickly, as he gathered his briefcase from the ground and began to head for the door.

Suddenly, Drake remembered that he had a meeting with the chief too. "Wait up man, I gotta go too!" he yelled after Dee, running away from Ted's cloud of smoke almost happily.

"Yeah, see you guys later too!" Ted called into the quiet air, to no response. Once they were out of sight, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Am I the only sane one left in this world?"

Running alongside each other, Dee and Drake were in a hurry to get to the chief's office. Neither of them wanted to be late for a man they feared as much as him.

"Wait, what the hell are you going in for?" Dee asked amid their rushing.

"Oh, you know…just asking for some vacation time, no big deal," Drake stuttered, unaware if that was a good enough lie to get past Dee. "What about you?"

Dee was too busy trying to think of his own excuse to realize that Drake himself was lying. "Oh, just some crap about a raise! You know how it is."

As they approached the end of the hallway, they found both Ryo and JJ waiting for them. Ryo bore a frown on his normally content face, while JJ could barely keep his eyes open.

"What took you so long? You're late, Dee!" Ryo chastised, his hands on his hips in an angry fashion. JJ, on the other hand, was so out of it he didn't realize Drake had arrived until Ryo's loud voice forced his eyes to open and they landed directly onto his partner.

"Hi Drakey," JJ said sleepily, walking over to give his partner a small hug, but instead falling into his arms and closing his eyes once more. "You make a nice pillow," he told Drake, who found himself smiling once more at the cute, random things that JJ would do.

"I know you're tired, but as soon as we get this over with we can both go home. Let's just go ahead and do it now," Drake said with a discouraged sigh at the end.

"Hey, just hold on a minute! Ryo and I need to go first, because Ryo's already really pissed off at me!" Dee argued, unaware of how that made him anymore subject to being allowed to burden the chief with more tales of 27th first.

"Dude, let us go first, JJ's like dead."

"Bullshit! He's probably just drunk. Kid doesn't know when to lay off the Long Island ice tea!"

"I am not!" JJ snapped at him, a boost of energy given to him with the newfound rage he had. "Unlike you, I know how to maintain myself."

"Dee, stop being an asshole," Ryo stated bluntly, much to the shock of the others.

"Ryooooo! Don't be mean to wittle old me!" Dee pouted to his lover, who had since turned to face the other direction. JJ had returned to using Drake as a human pillow, as Drake chewed his gum with several snaps and pops.

The door to the chief's office suddenly opened with a dramatic whooshing sound, revealing the flustered Chief Smith and the visibly annoyed Berkeley Rose. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU IDIOTS WANT?!" their chief screamed at them, tired of the ruckus happening outside his door.

Out of shock, no one said anything. Instead, silence was found in the hallway, and this seemed to irritate the chief more than it did when it was loud and noisy.

"All of you, get in my office now!" he said, gesturing towards his desk with a fiery expression emblazoned on his face. Half-heartedly, the officers shuffled their way inside, meeting the gaze of Lieutenant Rose as they all crowded around the office.

"Now, everyone has two minutes to explain why the fuck you just decided to have a party right in front of my office, and it better not take any longer than that!"

"Sir, Dee and I were hoping to tell you something in private-" Ryo remarked, but lost his voice at the end due to the chief's macabre facial expression.

"Too late for that! Commissioner Rose and I are in the middle of a very important financial meeting and you assholes just interrupted it! Now spill the beans already!"

"Dee should go first because I know their news is happier," JJ remarked, a little too solemnly for Drake's liking.

"Why would you say that?" Drake asked him, unaware of why this was-but also unaware of what exactly Dee's news was, other than a raise.

"Yeah, why would you say that. I mean, I guess I'm moderately happy about it." Dee thought out loud, as Ryo rolled his eyes at him.

"Dude, why wouldn't you be happy about a raise?" Drake inquired, confused about the exchange of words that was going on around him.

"A raise, Dee? Is that what you told him?" asked Ryo unhappily, with a forward glance in Dee's direction.

"Laytner wants a raise? Good luck with that one," Rose commented offhandedly, glancing down at his trimmed fingernails. "You barely deserve the right to be employed here."

"If what you want is a raise, you can just piss off right now," Chief Smith alerted them, glaring directly into Dee's soul, making the other man nervous for the approaching announcement.

"No, he doesn't want a raise, sir," Ryo spoke up, taking the place of a suddenly nervous Dee, "although in our situation, that could only make things better."

Berkeley raised an eyebrow at Ryo, who he had to admit, looked better than ever nowadays. His skin had such a fresh, healthy glow to it. "Your situation?"

"Sir, commissioner, Dee and I-well, mostly me-are expecting. A baby." Ryo said, his mouth suddenly becoming dry at the thoughts of what could go wrong. He didn't want to be in this office to begin with, but he knew the sooner he told about his news the better.

Chief Smith's eyes became wide and his expression became one of utter astonishment rather than the expected rage. Berkeley mimicked the chief, a wave of shock passing over his body. Drake turned to look at Dee with a disturbed look in his eyes, and he was the first one to speak after the assumed silence.

"Holy shit, dude, you too?"

Dee sent him back a strange look. "What do you mean, you too?"

"Because I'm preggers too," JJ said with a yawn, the only one in the situation who wasn't shocked on any account. The added drama just made him want to nap even more.

Dee drew a blank before loudly exclaiming, "Holy fuck, you had sex with JJ?!" to a highly confused Drake. He then fell directly onto the carpeted floor in a barrage of laughter, and such caused Drake to turn an unpleasant shade of red. JJ's cheeks tinted pink as well; was it really that much of an embarrassment? Dee made it seem like he was the office outcast.

"SHUT UP!" yelled the chief, and Dee instantly whimpered like a puppy before stopping his insane laughter. After taking a breath of air, he said "Alright, so you've all decided to screw each other, and by doing that, you've screwed me too! You dumb bastards!"

Ryo, the obviously more responsible one, was quick to try and alleviate the chief's anger. "Sir, I can assure you that this won't affect us and our work on our cases at all. I know that JJ is usually responsible and is a hard worker, and I myself am very dedicated to my job. I know Dee is sometimes a bother, but he isn't so bad once you get past his numerous misunderstandings with protocol."

"Hey…" Dee said under his breath, fake sniffling at Ryo's criticisms. One look from Ryo, however, told him to shut it before the chief became even madder than he already was.

"I know that you're all hard workers when you want to be," the chief finally said, calmed down to the point of being able to make logical sentences, "and especially now with our current workload, this would be the worst time for all of you to start slacking, which is why I'm going to take your word for it and keep you on your current workload. But if something does come up-especially with this Cook case you have going on-I will be forced to make some tough choices on whether or not you can continue to work on them or not."

"I understand," Ryo said, but not before catching the glance of the commissioner, who looked completely heartbroken in the corner.

"If you would excuse me, sir, but I have other things to attend to," he announced coolly before taking a collection of files from the chief's desk and exiting the too-small room.

"Where the hell are you going? Damnit, Berkeley!" the chief yelled at him in frustration, to no avail. "You see what you idiots cause?"

"Can we go home now?" JJ asked, a look of both disinterest and sadness written on his face.

"Yeah, get the hell out of my office," Chief Smith told them, giving each of them a hard glare before sighing one last time. "And another thing; you better not be shitty parents or I'll kill all of you. Especially you, Laytner."

Dee made a face at the chief as he held the door open for his other co-workers, all who were happy to finally be exiting the perilous office of the chief. Once outside, Dee and Drake immediately began to talk about the one thing neither of them had known about each other for the past few weeks.

"Dude, can you believe it? We're gonna be dads together. We're gonna like, celebrate Father's Day and stuff," Drake said in awe, almost completely unaware of the fact that he was, indeed, pending fatherhood.

"Dude! Our babies can have like, have play dates and stuff! And they can get married!" Dee told him, suddenly thinking about all the cool things he could do with his kid.

"I don't want my kid to marry someone as big a jackass as you. If the kid's more like Ryo, then maybe."

"Rest assured, our child won't be smoking at fifteen years old," Ryo remarked sharply, making Dee laugh uneasily.

"Oh come on, baby, I'll teach our little one all the rights and wrongs of life! Just you, me, that annoying brat Bikky and our little potato against the world!"

"Oh, boy…" Ryo exclaimed with a sigh, wondering whether or not Dee's intentions were for better or for worse.

"Well, I'm going to head home now," JJ said suddenly, immediately turning in the other direction to avoid confrontation with his co-workers.

"Are you okay?" Drake called after him, raising one of his large eyebrows. He couldn't tell whether or not JJ was legitimately sad or just tired.

Turning around quickly, JJ smiled and nodded, but just as quickly turned back around and started to head in the opposite direction. He wasn't far when he heard Dee yell "Congratulations!"

It made JJ want to cry. Why wasn't Dee the father of his baby? Despite the fact that Dee was usually a big meanie to him-like today-JJ still wished somehow that it would be him and not Drake. Why were the good-looking guys always the meanest?

It wasn't as if Drake wasn't attractive to JJ-he was, really-but Dee's bad boy personality made JJ hot inside. Drake was just lazy, not bad; Dee had a whole bad streak to him.

Before JJ could walk and think any further, he heard another yell coming from down the hallway. He turned around and saw the chief gesturing for him, exclaiming, "Adams! Get your ass down here, we got another stolen baby!"

One thing was for sure-JJ sure wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.

* * *

Author's Notes: Oh man! This is such a long chapter! Sorry it took so long, I just became really busy with school and such! Truthfully, I still am very busy with school…but I had to focus on my other love in life, this story! I hope everyone enjoyed this long chapter!

Also, in order to keep up with me and my unsteady schedule, I've created a Twitter where you can follow my progress; I'll be sure to update it more constantly! You can follow me or not, either way it is lovelyelwrites. I will tweet how far along I am in writing and when chapters are likely to be posted! Hooray! Until next time guys! Love from El xx


	8. The Third Victim (Where There's Smoke)

Author's Notes: Hi everyone! It's time for chapter eight of this lovely story! Who's excited? Hahaha. Well, I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, or if you chose not to celebrate, I hope you had a lovely Thursday! I myself enjoyed some Black Friday shopping and bought me some new CDs plus a kitchen appliance I probably don't need! Whoo-hoo for consumerism!

As always, I do not own FAKE or its characters, but I do own the plot of this story as well as Adrienne Wilkins and her family. I guess I also technically own the fetuses in this story...but that's a whole different debate, isn't it? Enjoy the story!

* * *

As Ryo and Dee made their way across town to arrive at the address instructed to them by their obviously grumpy chief, they were both abnormally silent. The fact of the matter was that another woman had been killed, and her developing baby abducted; a thought that perturbed soon-to-be parents Ryo and Dee more than slightly.

Ryo did his best to avoid directly speaking about the current situation. "I think it's a good thing that Drake and JJ stayed back at the office instead of coming with us," he remarked softly, staring out the window with an airy look in his eyes.

"Yeah, but didn't the chief send them out on patrol instead? That fucking sucks more than desk work. You have to deal with all the lunatics on the streets. And what the hell is JJ's deal?"

"He's really sick, can't you tell? Work is just difficult for him to handle right now," Ryo said, thinking about Dee's rather negative opinion of JJ.

"Being pregnant isn't the same as being sick. Oh well, as long as he stops harassing me and moves on to Drake, I'm down! I feel bad for the poor guy. He screwed JJ and now he's screwed for the next eighteen big ones. I just don't get why he would do it."

"JJ is lonely, and Drake is a nice guy. They're really good friends, even outside of work."

"Kinda like us, huh?" Dee said with a wink, causing Ryo to roll his eyes.

Another minute of silence passed, followed by Ryo looking at Dee suddenly, a questioning look on his face. "Dee, what was JJ like at the Academy?"

Moving his eyes upwards, Dee slowed the car down at a traffic light to think. "At the Academy? He was insane. Like, just as crazy as he is now-or was like last week-but even more. He also loved to dance, I remember that. He always loved going to bars, even if they weren't gay ones. His hair was still that same purple color…and he was really skinny, like so skinny he had to gain some weight. I think he said he had a brother, too. I don't know anything about him though. But anyway, he was a crazy bitch. I booked it outta there as soon as I graduated to escape him."

Sighing, Ryo resumed looking out the window, putting his focus into staring at the fallen leaves littering the ground. "I think he'll be alright. He just needs some time to adjust, that's all."

"Who I'm really concerned about is Rose," Dee said sharply, staring directly at the road as if it were coming at him. "He seemed pretty pissed in there today. Obviously not the ideal situation for him, as he's kinda still totally into you."

"You don't really think that poorly of him, do you?" Ryo asked, his mind going back to earlier that day, and seeing Berkeley's face after the big announcement. If one thing was for sure, he sure didn't seem happy about anything.

"Well I certainly don't trust him," Dee said coldly, making a sharp turn that caused Ryo's stomach to jump.

"Could you not drive so erratically? I don't feel very good," Ryo asked him, willing any sickness he might have to go away for the time being, as his job was much more important.

"Sorry," Dee grunted, his eyes narrowing in a way that depicted his feelings at the moment. Ryo couldn't help but become perplexed.

"Are you alright, Dee?"

"Oh, just fuckin' dandy. You see, first you defend every single asshole in my life right now, then you get mad at me for every little thing, and I haven't smoked in three days and I think I'm going to light myself on fire!"

Sighing, Ryo responded, "I swear to God, you're moodier than me. Quit being such a baby, would you? I really don't want to have to take care of two of them."

"So I take it we won't be having anymore kids?"

"You don't even like kids. You saw the ultrasound and freaked out."

"Well, I'm sorry! Shit happens sometimes, okay? I don't know if I'm up for this whole parenting thing."

"Well too bad!" Ryo yelled at him, suddenly becoming as angry as Dee was. "You put this thing in me, it's your responsibility too!"

Dee glared at his partner as he slowed the police car down to a stop, and the two stared hatefully at each other before getting out of the car and, separately, making their way over to Ted, who had been sent over even though he wasn't on the case.

"It's about time you guys got here!" the red-headed detective said loudly, through the mess of police tape and cars surrounding the tiny apartment building. "Victim's still inside, name's Adrienne Wilkins, thirty-three years of age. Her husband and their little son are inside in the lobby-they're the ones who found her."

"I'll go check out the body," Ryo said quickly, storming off without another word, and leaving Dee behind as well. Dee, as stubborn as he was, didn't follow.

"What the hell's up with him?" Ted asked, questioning the usually close-knit partnership's sense of disconnection.

"Don't ask. I'll go talk to the guy," Dee responded angrily, walking past Ted with an expression far from jovial plastered on his face.

"What the hell is wrong with everyone today?" Ted asked himself in confusion, shaking his head as he too made his way into the apartment building.

* * *

Walking through the mostly emptied hallways, Ryo noticed the place wasn't a very sophisticated one. The walls were plain white, with light gray doors and an offset green carpet to accompany them. Other than that, it was mostly barren, and to Ryo, it felt rather spooky.

After introducing himself as a detective from the 27th, Ryo was quickly allowed in, and in no time he had discovered the body; the dead woman was smack in the middle of the living room, with a puddle of blood surrounding her and various splatters around her. A pillow, obviously used as a silencer, was close by, as well as, surprisingly, the weapon, a knife that lay covered in blood by her feet.

"Hey, there you are," exclaimed Ted, out of breath from running up the stairs to catch Ryo in time. "This place sucks, there isn't even an elevator!"

"What can you do," Ryo sighed, leaning down to get a better look at the knife. "I think it's interesting that he left the weapon here. In the previous two cases, there wasn't a weapon to be found."

"Even better, it's the perp's knife," Ted told him, grabbing a knife out of the wooden block that held them on the kitchen counter. "They don't match the set in here. That thing's gonna be a DNA hotspot."

"And do we know anything else about our guy?" Ryo asked, standing back up to face Ted.

Ted put the knife back in its proper spot before leaning against the counter in a suave fashion. "Not much, unfortunately. We know that the husband took Jonah-the kid they already have-to a birthday party while Mom left a bit later to go to the grocery store. According to lobby staff she came home alone, meaning our guy came before she did and met her there-not a hard task, considering the lack of security at this place. Hours later, Dad came home with son, and the sight they found wasn't so pretty."

"Geez," Ryo remarked softly, the impact of the case slowly starting to roll over his body through subtle waves of shock. As he bent down once more to examine the body, he found himself suddenly feeling sick all over again; stab wounds covered her face down to her neck, with blood dried all over. The wounds continued down her body, over her breasts in slashing patterns and down to her stomach, where a chunk of skin was exposed, being used to cut the baby out. You could even see the remains of the umbilical cord coming out of her body, starting to dry up after being exposed to the air for so long.

The thoughts that floated around his head were absolutely morbid; what if it were him that ended up in this position? Where one day, some rabid creep attacked him in his own home and he wouldn't be able to protect himself, for whatever reason. What if Dee wasn't around to help him, or even Bikky? What if he-or his child-lost their lives? All of a sudden, Ryo grabbed onto his stomach protectively, feeling something in deep concern for his unborn child. He could feel his insides toss uncomfortably, and he felt his throat tighten up, as if the air was being sucked out of him.

His eyes wide, Ryo suddenly jolted from the floor and down the hall, causing Ted to jerk his shoulders and follow him in a panic. As soon as Ryo found the bathroom, he darted inside, and without even bothering to close the door, he lifted the toilet lid and vomited the entire contents of his lunch. He felt his face beginning to burn up, the extreme heat making his head pound and his mind spin.

After a few minutes, Ryo finally lifted his head and began to pant loudly, gasping for breath as if he couldn't find his own. Slightly freaked out, Ted, who was close behind him, asked, "Dude, holy shit, are you okay?"

Ryo turned around to face Ted as his fellow detective helped him up, while he still struggled for air. Visibly frightened, Ted told him, "Wait here, I'm going to get you some water, okay?"

Ryo managed to nod before Ted sped off into the apartment, and he turned around to quickly flush down the mess he had made; it would be rather rude to just leave it, he decided. Looking at his reddened face in the mirror, Ryo took a couple of deep breaths as he finally began to calm down, coming back to reality slowly.

Ted came back a mere two minutes later, an unopened water bottle in his hand. "Here, drink some of this," he said, popping the lid off and handing it to Ryo, who drank as if he had spent a long time in the heat of the desert.

After consuming more than half of the bottle, Ryo recapped it and set it down, wiping off his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket. "Thanks so much, Ted. I think I've got a bit of the flu or something, I mean, that was really embarrassing."

"Hey, no problem man…but I mean, you should probably go home if you feel this bad. You really scared the piss out of me," he said, running a hand through his hair.

Ryo faked a smile, telling him, "I think I'll do just that. I've already gotten a good enough look, anyway. I should probably find Dee and tell him. But can you do me one more favor?"

"Sure dude, what is it?"

"Can you not mention this to anyone else? It's really just a minor illness, I just wouldn't want anyone to think I'm not capable of handling this."

"Got it," Ted told him with a friendly smile, one that Ryo did his best to return before walking away from him, as well as the horrific body of a woman who woke up that morning and knew she would be expecting a baby soon. Unfortunately, she was right-just a little too soon.

As Ryo left the apartment, with Ted staying behind to finish the investigation, a sad expression graced his face. The whole time, his hand was still firmly on his stomach.

* * *

While Ryo had gone upstairs, Dee had chosen to stay in the lobby and interview the main witness to the case, Joseph Wilkins. He had a beard of curls and he was wearing a blue plaid shirt with a brown vest on top, with dusty brown cord jeans and oxford shoes. The little boy, Jonah, had curly locks and clutched on desperately to a baby doll, whose overly blonde hair was matted with an unusual goop.

"Just explain everything that happened from the beginning," Dee remarked, noticing his tone still sounded slightly condescending after his fight with Ryo.

Joseph, visibly shaken and fidgeting uncomfortably, spoke in a traumatic uncertainty. "Uh, well…this morning, I mean…everything was fine this morning. She was happy. Excited. She was trying to naturally induce labor, because she wanted to see our son sooner...she had another two weeks to go. And I didn't want to make her go anywhere that would be too tiring for her, so I offered to take him to the party. She told me she was going to the grocery store, just to get some fruit or something simple, something so simple…and I thought it would be fine. But we came home, I opened the door, and I saw her. The first thing I did was push my son out. I didn't want him to see. I must've looked at her for a good ten seconds before I just screamed. I screamed and ran down the stairs with my son, and the receptionist called for you guys. I haven't been up there since. I can't go up there anymore…"

As Dee listened to his story, he felt his heart sink further and further into his chest. Normally, cases of even more horrific proportions didn't personally bother him enough to affect his job-after all, he wouldn't be a very good cop if they did-but this case hit much closer to home. If he could meet the guy who was committing these crimes, he would most likely forget all about protocol and teach him a lesson.

"God, man…I'm so sorry. I mean, I know how you feel…I've got one on the way too. And to be honest with you, I'm pretty freaked out right now, with this activity going on…"

Folding his hands together, Joseph sighed quietly. "I hear you, man. When we heard about the reports in the news, it freaked us out too. I just never thought it could actually happen…"

There was silence between them for a few moments, as Dee stared intently at the ground, thinking about Ryo and how every single day, he woke up happy, knowing that Ryo was his, and he was Ryo's. They were made for each other-he could feel it, deep in his heart.

"Just make sure you never take any thing for granted," Joseph said, breaking the silence and causing Dee to look up again. "Cherish every moment you have with your wife, even the small things. You never know when life will get in the way and take everything away from you."

Dee thought of the other day when he called Ryo his wife with a smile. "I sure will," he said softly, his eyes widening immediately after as he felt a small tug on his shirt.

Turning around, Dee stared into the face of little Jonah, who couldn't be older than five. The boy's cheeks had visible tearstains, and he held on to the hand of his doll as if it were his world. "Mr. Police Officer, I have a question."

With uncertainty, Dee replied, "Sure, bud, what is it?"

"Can you bring my baby brother home?"

To Dee, it wasn't even a question. With one of his signature smirks, he responded, "Of course I will. Leave it to us, we'll get him back safe and sound."

Just then, the sound of rapid footsteps came from behind him, causing him to turn around again. There was Ryo, his Ryo, with his face flushed and a water bottle in his hand. "Are you alright?" Dee asked him, standing up in genuine concern.

"Yeah, I just got a little sick upstairs. I should be okay, after getting some rest." Ryo said calmly, a smile on his face after seeing Dee. Happily, Dee was smiling too, glad to see his Ryo.

"This is my partner, Detective Maclean," Dee quickly introduced, stepping over to be next to Ryo while grabbing his jacket from the chair he had previously sat in. "We'll be heading out now, but I promise you, we're going to work our hardest to find your son. I give you my word."

"Thank you, both of you," Joseph said with a sad smile, his son close to his side. Both Ryo and Dee could feel the sudden sense of terror that they had both experienced that day, but they pushed it aside, finding comfort in each other. Together, hand in hand, they walked out to the car and headed back to the police station, happy to have the life that they did.

* * *

"I swear to God, it was only a couple of minutes! You gotta let me off the hook, there's no way I can pay this!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but you weren't a couple of minutes late, you were several hours late," Drake told him angrily, the sunlight reflecting off his police uniform almost disdainfully.

"You god-damned pigs!" the man remarked angrily, pulling the parking ticket off the front of his motorcycle before hopping back on it and speeding off.

"Have a nice day, sir!" JJ yelled at him sarcastically as Drake fumbled in his pockets for more gum. Angrily, he popped a piece into his mouth as he turned back around to face JJ, who was looking through his cell phone with boredom.

"I hate this crap," Drake told him, walking alongside him as they made their way down the chilly New York street. "This is why I'm a detective. Because this shit sucks."

"Sorry, Drakey," JJ replied to his rant, staring down at his oxfords in sudden interest. "I know it's my fault that we're out here."

"Well, the chief didn't want you to pass out on a crime scene, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let us get away without any labor at all. So now we're here. God damn, why does everyone in this damned city smoke!" Drake yelled as yet another smoker passed by, and the wafts of nicotine filled his nostrils and practically begged him to smoke again.

JJ resumed looking down at his feet, knowing how much trouble he had already caused. Even before they were out on the town, looking for vandals of various small crimes, they stopped by a convenience store so JJ could buy a Red Bull, but he had forgotten his wallet in his desk drawer, so Drake had to pay for it. He was beginning to feel like a big burden in everyone's way.

They walked along in silence, a strange tension between them for the first time in days. Drake's mind wasn't soothed by the comforting blanket of nicotine, making him vulnerable to irritability, and JJ was upset by the way the day had gone, being unproductive at work and then being made fun of by Dee. Things weren't going well for either of them.

Drake finally snapped, stopping in the middle of the street and groaning in anguish. "I can't take it anymore! I need a cigarette right now. Oh my God, I am going to die if I can't smoke! JJ, I have to go buy some cigarettes. I swear to God, I'll be right back."

"Okay, Drakey," JJ said in a mock cheerful tone, watching Drake run across the street to a small store with cigarette advertisements plastered on the sides. Sighing, he moved over to an abandoned street corner, where a garbage bin lay stacked against a brick wall. Inquisitively, JJ stared over the collecting trash; a plastic bag, a small container that once held food, a baby pacifier. JJ suddenly wondered how loud a baby's cry might be, and how horrific it would be if it woke him up in the middle of his beauty sleep.

There was also a garbage bag, tossed clumsily on the side, with some uneaten chicken sticking out of it. _How disgusting,_ JJ thought to himself, staring with a crinkled nose. The smell also wasn't very pleasant.

But then, something strange happened; the chicken moved. Twitched, really. JJ swore he saw it twitch upwards, then immediately go back down. It wasn't even a second. Somehow, he convinced himself that this was just some crazy withdrawal symptom.

Then it really moved. Up, and then down. JJ knew this time it was for real, because it moved again, and again. Little tiny twitches signifying that this chicken was alive. Slowly, JJ crept over to the trash bag, and cautiously, a little worried about the possible germs, he lifted up the bag to peer inside.

Drake came back across the street in an even worse mood than he was already in. "You won't believe this. I was two bucks short! Guy wouldn't even cut me a deal. Now we have to go all the way-JJ? What the hell are you doing, are you dumpster diving?"

"Drake, come here," JJ said urgently, fear evident in his voice. Drake rushed over to him as he lifted up the trash bag, and the closer Drake got, the less he could believe it.

There wasn't a chicken inside the bag, dead, alive, or eaten; it was a baby girl.

* * *

On the ride back to the precinct, Ryo gently held onto Dee's arm as he drove, his eyes closed as he let the roll and vibration of the car soothe his worries. "I'm sorry I yelled at you and got all mad," he said, yawning softly. He was certainly ready to go home after a long day at work.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I was such a dick to you," Dee told him, making sure this time to drive more carefully. "What happened up there? You didn't look so hot once you came back down."

"I don't know what happened to me…I just saw the body and I had these awful thoughts, like, what if this happened to me, to us…it probably didn't help that I wasn't feeling well to begin with."

"This whole case is just starting to get under my skin a little bit…it's even worse that this guy keeps striking. You think it would have only been one victim, but something about this guy makes him keep coming back for more."

"My question is what happens to all those babies. What could he possibly be doing with them? At this point, he has two…"

Dee exhaled loudly, his hands grasping the steering wheel tightly. "I have no idea, but I know that now I'm twice as motivated to solve this case and kick this creepy bastard's ass. If this were to happen to you…or hell, even JJ…I would kill the guy! No one has any right to do that to a person."

"At least if it happens to me, I know karate," Ryo joked lightly, his eyes floating to the window as they neared the station. "And isn't JJ a kickboxer? He can defend himself, most likely."

"You haven't seen the guy at a gay bar. When someone hits on him repeatedly without getting the message, JJ can go real psycho on the guy's ass. I've seen him bitch slap men twice his size. He's like a candy bar, full of sugar and energy. A fun-sized one, though, because the guy's super short. What is he, 5'9?"

"Oh, Dee," Ryo remarked, stretching as Dee parked the police vehicle down in the garage. "At least try to be nice to him, will you?"

"I guess I probably should work on that whole being nice to people thing," Dee grumbled as he got out of the car. As they both started to make their way into the station, Dee paused for a moment and said, "Hey Ryo, I forgot to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"I love you."

Blushing, Ryo smiled a little bit, although he was mostly just confused. "Oh, well, I love you too. Can I ask why you just said that?"

Dee smirked before clapping Ryo on the shoulder and walking ahead of him, saying, "I just wanted to make sure that you knew that."

Blanking for a second, Ryo snapped out of his trance and continued to follow Dee at a steady pace. He wasn't sure why Dee acted the way he did sometimes, but he sure had a knack for saying the things that made his heart melt.

* * *

Once they had safely made their way to their office, they found the chief standing outside of it, a cell phone in his hands. As soon as he saw Dee and Ryo approaching, his dour expression became slightly enlightened. "There you two are, I was just going to call you."

"Yup, we're back from the crime scene! Pretty brutal, Ryo and I will have the report typed up by tomorrow! As for now, it's quittin' time!" Dee said happily, reaching for the door to their office.

"Not so fast, monkey brain," Chief Smith told him, slapping his eager hand away. "We just got an interesting report from Adams and Parker, and I'm afraid your day's aren't over quite yet."

Ryo's shoulders slumped a little bit in exhaustion, while Dee was absolutely livid. "Damnit! We've been working all day! And can't you see how tired Ryo is? He's doing everything for two now, you know!"

"Quit your bitching or I'll fire the both of you!"

"Sir, what exactly are we going to be doing?" Ryo asked, trying to make peace amidst two of the angriest men he had ever encountered.

"Just a small meeting, then you morons can go home. But there'll be another long day tomorrow; they found an abandoned baby in a garbage bag."

Both of their eyes widened, with Ryo quickly asking, "Do we know who's it is yet?"

"No, they're running DNA tests right now, and if you assholes don't follow me to this meeting it's going to take even longer than it already is! Let's just hurry up and get this over with, shall we?"

With a quick glance at one another, Ryo and Dee followed the chief down the hall, with a strange feeling that both of them were experiencing; one of an uncertain hope that this baby would be the child of one the victims that had been discovered so far.

* * *

Author's Notes: Oh my gosh! Think it's getting intense now? Just wait, it gets eveeeenn better! I'm pretty excited for this story and where it will go…truth is though, I need to stop writing it and focus on my schoolwork! I am so behind in Chem right now…oh well?

Next chapter probably won't be so long…for some reason, I looked back at my planning sheet and I don't have too much planned…but I'm thinking of changing things up just a little bit to include something else I have planned for this story. One of my big things is backstory, so I'm trying to include at least a little bit of that for each character. I also like to try to imagine their families, which I've already done a bit with JJ (by the way, you will see his family come up again later), but I want to do that for the others too. Obviously you can't go any further into Dee's story because he has no true parents, and I'm not going to do something completely unrealistic and make them like appear out of thin air. There's room for imagination with Ryo, because we don't know too much about his parents (other then their tragic ends) but I know his dad's name was mentioned. We know nothing about Drake, which leaves plenty of room to create a family around him! Anyway, you may or may not see some of that next chapter.

That was way too long! Okay, I'll shut up now. Until next time xx


	9. Home Alone

Author's Notes: Hey dolls! I call people that in real life and sometimes they think it's weird, I hope you guys don't think it is. Well, either way, chapter nine is coming your way! I guess I'm sort of excited about it. You're going to see my version of Drake's family begin to pop up in here, and I'm hoping it's not going to turn out like when I wrote JJ's story and just go on and on and on…or maybe that's a good thing? All in the eye of the beholder? Whatevs xx

As per usual, I am not the owner of FAKE and its characters, but I own the plot of this story as well as the Parker family and the baby. Enjoy!

* * *

After a long day on the job with little successes other than making a complete ass of himself around Dee, JJ and the chief, the sullen-faced, shaky-handed detective Drake Parker headed back to the garbage heap he called home. Although, garbage heap wasn't really fitting at the moment, considering what he had discovered today in a heap of garbage.

Shivering in disgust, Drake flipped the light switch on immediately after entering his sorry excuse for a studio apartment. There were things _everywhere_-you couldn't escape things. Empty beer bottles, fast food bags, and newspapers littered the floor. Where there used to be a kitchen table was now piles of books and magazines, with a container of bagels somewhere to the right…or was it to the left? Drake was both too tired and too upset to pay it much mind.

The day hadn't gone the best, he admitted. His lack of cigarettes made him moody, causing him to be a dick to JJ. It wasn't like they were the perfect friends and partners, because normally they fought all the time, but until JJ was in a more mentally stable place, Drake was worried that he would take his frustrations out to be more than just frustrations. Despite not wanting to be a father, Drake suddenly realized that it was taking up way more of his thoughts than he expected it to.

When the baby came, he wasn't sure how life was going to change. Would he be expected to take it home and take care of it? Would it be like a trade-off thing, you have your days and I have mine? Or would they be doing stuff together, as a sort of family? It made his head spin.

Where could any baby items possibly even go in his apartment? It was probably the worst place to raise a child; it was in a bad part of the city, and the only reason Drake chose to live there was due to the fact that as a police officer, he would be able to protect himself from anything that could happen. It was also a hell of a lot cheaper than a place like JJ's, which looked like an actual modern discotheque. It was decorated to the nines with material weaknesses, pretty vintage furniture and clothes that surrounded it in a way that made it look like a fashion boutique. There was also more than just one room, which was unlike Drake's tiny terrarium. There was no way a baby would even fit in there.

Sighing, Drake ran his hands through his hair-not quite blonde, not quite brown-and kicked off his boots. They were getting old. He was getting old. 30 years old and he hadn't done much with his life, other than get a job.

He could remember when he was in high school and when everyone else was planning their futures and speaking of college, he really couldn't care less about the future. At that point, Drake had learned well enough that he wasn't made out to be much in his life. His sister was the family's real success, heading off to obtain a degree in biology before getting sent off into medical school. She was always the best student, and probably the Parker family's biggest achievement.

He could kind of be described as more of a general loser than just a rebel when he was in high school. He felt more inclined to be described as average. He was an average student, an average hockey player, and an average in the world of social lives, as far as social lives went. He just didn't happen to have any ambitions as to where he wanted to be in the future.

He only chose the career of law enforcement in order to motivate himself. At the time, he had been working at a grocery store, living off his paychecks and behaving as any adult his age would be-poorly. The police academy taught him how to be a good officer, as well as how to be even more unproductive as ever, with the new friends he had made. Now, almost ten years later, Drake was a smoker, an alcoholic, and even more so than ever, a loser.

How could he contribute to the life of a child? There was no way that he could be a good dad. He just didn't have it in him. He was a terrible person to begin with, leaving little room for improvement. He didn't want the kid to turn out as bad as he had, especially JJ's kid. He couldn't help but laugh as he thought of a little boy with purple hair and J. Crew clothes who spoke just like JJ usually did. "Barf me out the back door!" the little boy would remark at the sight of anything unpleasant, such as wilted flowers or discrimination. Or perhaps a small girl with her hair in that braid JJ was talking about-horsetail? Pigtail? No, it was fishtail-who ran down Broadway with a Nerf gun in her hand, shooting strangers and yelling, "I'll stop it if you buy me candy!" in a whiny, accented voice.

Maybe he could take the baby to a Knicks game. And they could cheer on the team together, as some cute kind of father-son or father-daughter moment. And they could go to the zoo, and to the museums, even if Drake didn't really have a fondness for the arts. They could walk down through the streets and watch people, something Drake did often to distract himself. They could even go down to Central Park and eat hot dogs.

These thoughts passed through his mind as he tried to fall into a deep sleep, but the worries and the negative thoughts were more enrapturing, trapping his mind in a cycle of disarray. He worried about the future, about the baby, about JJ, and about himself. He had a feeling the next day would be another hard one, without any cigarettes or sense.

* * *

One of the two phones in their shared office-this time, the one's on Drake's desk-rang with a sharp sound that tore through the unusual quiet of the place. JJ lifted his heavy head from his desk and said, "What?" in confusion, after having been asleep for several minutes.

"It's mine," Drake replied, picking up the phone with slight confusion. Usually the calls were for JJ, because he tended to be more organized than Drake was. Before speaking into the phone, he smiled slightly at JJ and said, "You've got a little something by your mouth."

Blushing in humiliation, JJ wiped away the drool that had accumulated at the bottom of his lip. Watching him bemusedly, Drake spoke into the receiver, "27th Precinct, Criminal Investigations."

"Oh, Drakey, you sound so grown up!"

"Damnit Mom, I told you not to call me at work!" Drake said in annoyance, ignoring the sudden snickers of his partner behind him.

"Well I wouldn't have to if you actually called me back!" his mother said sharply, her accent unflinchingly clear even through the phone. It was a real testament to who his mother was, just by her calling him on the job.

"Sorry, I've been busy. How's it going up there?"

"Oh, same old, same old! My book club is reading that new erotica novel, about the business man who takes advantage of his-"

"Mom, I really don't want to hear about that."

"Oh, you men! Your father says the same things. Oh, Sarah, you just can't go on reading those dumb novels, he says! What else is a childless woman to do? I know, you need to hurry up and give me some grandchildren to spoil!"

Gulping, Drake wiped the sweat off of his forehead. He knew he would have to tell his mother about the baby eventually, but he figured at the same time that this wasn't the best time or place to make the big announcement. "Don't you think I should get married first?"

"Oh, who cares. In this day and age, it's not a requirement. Just find some pretty girl and do it already!"

"Why don't you ask Teresa! She's probably in a much stronger position to have kids than I am. She's been married for years and she's a freakin' doctor."

His mother sighed in frustration and in disappointment, saying after a slight pause, "Well, that's another thing that's happened recently. You see, they've been trying for years, and she just recently found out that she can't have kids."

Drake cursed himself in anger, slamming his head against the desk. Of course something like that would happen. Now he was absolutely expected to produce children. "Ouch," he said, unsure of how to convey his feelings of being overwhelmed to his over-enthusiastic mother.

"She's in that state of denial. She thinks the doctor was wrong, and she's still trying. Poor little girl…I just want her to have kids! And you too! Both of you need to, but especially you!"

He sighed, knowing it wouldn't please her no matter what he said. "Okay, Mom, I'll get on that. Listen, I have to actually get back to work, so can I call you later?"

"Fine, but you better call! Don't think I won't call again, because I will!"

"Bye, Mom, I'll talk to you later," Drake told her, following with a swift click as the phone was placed back into its holder. He stared at it in interest, wondering how a device so small could play such a big role in the world.

"And how is Mommy Parker?" JJ asked in curiosity, his eyes bright and big. He seemed to be feeling better, even in the slightest.

"She's fine. I think she just wanted to make sure I was still alive. She does that kinda often," he stated bluntly, yawning as he turned around to face his purple-locked companion.

"I didn't know you had a sister," JJ told him, an indignant smirk plastered on his face. "And she's smarter than you? That's so funny!"

"Shut up! Whatever, my parents always favored her anyway. She got into med school and did the whole doctor thing. Now she makes a shit ton of cash and lives with her husband back in Hoboken."

"New Jersey? That's an interesting place to live."

"That's where I grew up."

JJ's large eyes widened in surprise. "You're a Jersey boy? Holy crap, I would've never expected it! It suits you, though."

Drake rolled his eyes, saying, "I guess I don't have the strongest accent. It went away with time. It got to be humiliating after a while. If I had to guess where you're from, I would probably say right here in NYC."

"Not even! I'm from Poughkeepsie," he said informatively, playing absentmindedly with a ballpoint pen.

"No wonder you have such a weird name, you come from the weirdly named place."

"You're mean! My name isn't weird, it's pretty."

"Then why do you go by JJ?"

He paused to think for a moment, trying to put into words what was most difficult to say. "Well, it just reminds me of back when people used to make fun of me, so I started going by something with nothing negative associated to it. JJ's also more masculine, don't you think?"

"I guess it is," Drake said, taking a drink of his coffee. "So you're telling me everyone else in your family has normal names then?"

"Well, no. My brother's name is Terrence. I guess that's kinda a weird name. My parents have normal names though. They're just preppy names. We were a really preppy family. I was an equestrian, and my brother played rugby, and those are like the preppiest sports ever."

"No wonder you-never mind," Drake said, mentally slapping himself after he almost admitted to saying that JJ had nice legs. Many equestrians did, and the fact that he had even begun to think something as inappropriate as that made him confused. It wasn't like he was attracted to JJ. He wasn't gay. Sure, he had a nice little body, and even though he wasn't a curvaceous babe, he was still sexy in his own way.

Why was he even thinking these thoughts? The only time he was even allowed think like this was when he had screwed JJ several months before. That night wasn't as bad as he thought it might be-despite being a little unsteady in what he was doing, it was pleasant because he felt like the expectations weren't as high, and he didn't have to worry about impressing someone. And JJ was the perfect partner, experienced enough to help him out while still getting what he needed. He wished every time he got laid that it was that nice.

"Earth to Drake?" JJ yelled at him, his eyebrows raised in confusion. "Are you still with us?"

"What? Yeah, sorry. Spaced out for a second."

"Did you not hear what I said? I asked if you had told your mom about the baby yet."

Pausing for a second, Drake exhaled a long sigh before turning his gaze to the floor. "Well, no," he said quietly, waiting for JJ to burst out in a loud, negative reaction.

"Well you're going to, right?" JJ responding, the slightest sound of sadness in his voice. If Drake was going to be involved, he needed to make sure that he was actually going to be involved. It was another person, a brand new human being, after all.

"Yeah, I am. It just isn't the best time. I mean, my sister can't get pregnant and she's like, almost 35…she would probably never talk to me again if I told her that now, and she sometimes loans me money, so…"

"Well, okay then," he said, absentmindedly rolling up the sleeves of his yellow blazer after noticing the heat in the room. Maybe it was more of just the heat in him-it did make him upset that Drake hadn't really done much or inquired about the baby, per se. After all, JJ was his partner, so obviously he would always care about him to some extent, but the baby was a part of Drake too. He didn't want to be the only parent in the child's life. He really didn't want to be more alone than he already was.

"Have you told your family yet?" Drake asked, doing his best to change the subject.

"I haven't spoken to any of them in years. Probably since I got out of college," JJ told him without any distinct emotion, signifying how little it meant to him that his family wasn't in the picture.

"Are you kidding? Why not? They just left you alone like that?" Drake inquired, a certain bit of anger in his voice. How could family just not speak to each other for so long like that? Certainly, he and his own family had their own disagreements from time to time-but to go for more than ten years without speaking was insane.

"We never really got along well, I guess. My brother just looked down on me and my parents…they had a certain image crafted out for me. They thought because I was gay that I had to do something, well, gay for a living. They would only pay for me to go to beauty school, so that's where I went."

"That's just stupid! They couldn't have really been that ignorant, could they? There are lots of gay police officers and detectives. There's you, Ryo, Dee is pretty gay, even the commish is at least bi! Why would they be so mean?"

"Hey Drake, I don't think I want to talk about this anymore," JJ said suddenly, glancing over at his desk and noticing the empty coffee mug. It stood out on his neat and organized desk-it too was alone. "I'm going to get some more coffee, you want some?"

Stunned into silence by his own ranting, Drake just simply nodded and watched JJ walk off. Even though he smiled as he left the room, JJ looked miserable on the inside. Drake felt bad about prying into his life so much, considering how he really didn't want to talk about it, but after their conversation he couldn't help but realize what JJ was really hiding.

Picking up his phone, Drake quickly pressed the redial button. Almost instantly, he was hit with the vibrant sound of his mother's voice, exclaiming, "Oh Drakey, I knew you'd call me back!"

"Mom, I don't have a lot of time," Drake said quickly, looking over his shoulder, "but I need to tell you something, and it's very important to me."

* * *

Ryo looked up at Dee at first with only a small, acknowledging glance, but once he caught greater sight of him as he walked through the door, he began to notice the scowl written on his face along with the browning stain on his pale blue work shirt. "What happened to you?" he asked more defensively than he wanted to, setting his black pen down on his notepad.

Exhaling loudly, Dee proclaimed, "Well, you see, Ryo darling, I did a good deed. I tried to do a good deed! And in the end, I still got bitten in the ass!"

Sighing to himself, Ryo replied, "What happened?"

"So there's JJ in the hall, right? And he looks kinda constipated. So I ask him, 'Dude, do you need to shit or something?' and he says, 'Noooo, I'm fiiiiine.' And I'm like, that's bullshit, so I TRY to be nice and I just give him a small hug and say 'Feel better!' and he fucking takes that as bait and tackles me to the fucking ground! He spilled his coffee all over me! I almost broke his damn coffee mug, I was so mad! I fucking hate owls anyway!"

Clearly less enraged than his partner, Ryo responded, "Didn't Drake give that to him? I wonder why Drake likes owls so much."

"Who fucking cares! I'm covered in coffee, JJ's a bitch, and-what are you doing? Why are you writing down names?"

Flushing pink, Ryo covered his notepad with his hand and glared at his partner. "Nothing, just working on a case."

"Yeah right. Dude, I can still see the paper! Megan, Jacob, Michael, Hannah…dude, are you writing down baby names?"

"Oh, hush, Dee!" Ryo stammered in embarrassment, taking the notepad away from Dee's point of vision. "I was just looking, that's all."

Dee lost his sour expression and laughed his usual laugh, which sounded much like the cackling of a crow, before taking a seat in his office chair and smirking. "You're too cute, Ryooooo."

"Did you actually like any of them?"

"Hmm…not really. I want the baby's name to be something personal, you know? Something that means something."

"I get what you mean, but how would we do that?" Ryo asked, thinking back to his own name and how it was picked. "I was named after a painter. Some realist or something that brought my parents a good deal of success in the art selling business. And then obviously, my middle name was chosen by my mother, because of her Japanese heritage."

"They just named me Dee because that's all I would say after they found me. Dee, dee, dee! I was obviously too young to actually say real words, so it was just the nonsense chattering of a baby. I was one of those babies who would never stop talking!"

"And thirty years later, you still haven't," Ryo remarked, earning a scowl from Dee. "I guess we'll just have to think about it some more."

"Right. So, any news on the case?" Dee asked, leaning back in his chair and setting his feet, clad in his heavy black loafers, up on the table.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot! We got the DNA results of the child," Ryo exclaimed, digging through some of the files on his desk to find the right one.

"Jesus, forgetful much? That's like, really important information!" Dee scolded, but still with a laughing expression on his face.

"If you keep making fun of me, you're sleeping on the couch," Ryo remarked with a frown. "But the results were a little shocking. It's not Adrienne Wilkins' baby, but…"

"…Bethany Cook's." Dee finished for him, another sigh escaping his lips. "Shoulda known. The guy dumps one baby, then goes for another one. Maybe after it lost its newborn charm he just got tired of it."

"At this point, your best guess is almost mine. The way this guy is behaving is making me think he's got some definite mental issues. He has to be stalking these women to some degree. They aren't related at all, in any way. This case is just…so confusing."

"I hear that," Dee said, leaning his head down on his desk. All the activity that had happened in the past week-from Ryo's appointment to overtime and now this-had made him just want to lay down and take a big nap.

A series of raps on their office door made both Ryo and Dee suddenly alert again. "Come in," Ryo called nonchalantly, setting the folder back onto his desk.

Drake popped his head in first before actually walking into the office, shutting the door with a soft click. "The commissioner wants to see you guys, I passed him in the hallway," he said, leaning on the door frame.

"Oh great, Nosy Rosy's got it comin' for us," Dee exclaimed, running a hand through his jet-black hair. "Did he say what he wants?"

"Not to me, but I would only guess it's about the case. Have either of you seen JJ?"

Ryo sent a glare in Dee's direction, silently willing him to be kind. Sighing, Dee used all of his restraint to follow Ryo's orders. "Yeah, I don't know where he was headed though."

"Hm, okay. I think he must've bailed early then. Fine by me, our shift's almost over anyway. I think he was tired."

"What are you talking about, dude? He was like, totally more energetic today. At least to me he was."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Drake asked with a frown, crossing his arms over his white dress shirt.

"It's not supposed to mean anything. Why are you getting all defensive?" Dee asked, a smile suddenly tugging on his lips.

"I'm not. What are you smirking for?"

"You do like JJ, don't you?"

"What the hell are you going on about now? Of course I like JJ, he's my partner."

"That's not what I mean and you know it." Dee told him, standing up to walk over and poke him in the chest. "You, Drake Parker, have a little love connection with one Jemmy Adams."

Gasping suddenly as if Dee had insulted his mother, Drake found his face quickly heating up. He snapped out of it in mere seconds, retaliating, "What the hell? No I don't! I'm not gay."

"Earth to Drakey, not everyone is just gay or straight! Some people, like me, are just in between. Some people prefer one gender to the other. It's completely possible that you can be attracted to a million women but fall in love with one guy." Dee laughed in his face in such a way that he knew it would strike a chord with Drake, who was at the moment speechless.

Darting his eyes between Ryo and Dee, Drake frowned again before saying, "Dude, just shut up already, will you? I'm taking off. See you guys later, and Ryo, better dump this one while you still have the chance."

"Will do," Ryo told Drake with a smile before he left, standing up to hit Dee on the shoulder. "We better hurry on over to the Commissioner, he's probably waiting for us."

"Oh yeah! Better not piss off Berkeley!" Dee chimed in a mock pleasant tone, holding the door open for Ryo and ignoring the irritated look on his face.

* * *

"Gentleman, we've finally received news about the infant that was recovered yesterday from Montefiore," Berkeley wasted no time in telling them, retrieving files out of his stack and refusing eye contact with the two detectives before him. Both Ryo and Dee had the distinct feeling that he was ignoring them due to his own jealousy over their situation.

"Is it good or bad?" Ryo tried to ask politely, secretly praying that an argument could be avoided.

"A bit of both. You see, the infant has been estimated to be about three weeks old, and she's in bad condition. According to hospital records, there were several bruises on her abdomen and arms, multiple lacerations on her feet, and to top it off she's heavily malnourished. It will be a miracle if she pulls through and is able to recover."

"So this guy is taking the babies and then abusing them?" Dee thought out loud, playing with the case in his mind. "He must have an inferiority complex or something."

"Complex or not, you two need to step up your game and find the perpetrator immediately. The media is blasting the precinct for failing to respond adequately to the crimes and my ass is on the line if you can't get your job done!"

"Jesus, man, calm down! We're working with what we have, okay? It's not like we're just being fucking lazy, so don't even think that's the case!"

"Oh, really?" he responded, glaring down into Dee's eyes with a well-hidden fury.

"With all due respect, sir," Ryo started, his own eyes crinkling slightly as he stared at Rose with not distaste, but more seriousness, "we have been working our very hardest on the case. The evidence we've had is little, with us retrieving a weapon from only one crime scene and with not a single witness to any of the crimes except Miss Kennedy from several weeks ago. We've distributed the sketch from the information she gave us to the public with no real results. We don't have a single lead, and so far we haven't pinpointed any similarities between any of the cases. We're at a dead end in the case right now, and until someone comes forth with information, we're screwed."

Berkeley sighed as he took his glasses off and buried his face in his hands. The office was silent for several seconds, with Ryo nonchalantly looking down and Dee trying to calm himself with breathing exercises, until Berkeley finally looked up again, propping up his chin on his balled-up fists.

"Well then, I guess there's not much else to it."

Before Dee opened his mouth to curse loudly, Ryo managed to save with, "What about the good news? You said it was a bit of both."

"Oh, right. Well, it's not necessarily good news per-se, but it's something to look forward to, I guess. The hospital estimated the baby will need about two weeks to recover, and if she makes it through, the orphanage that Laytner over here grew up in is taking her. Since the mother is obviously deceased and as previously stated in your reports, there is no known father."

"What?" Ryo asked quizzically, his mouth opening slightly at the news. "Did you contact the grandparents? When we spoke to them, they seemed like they would be having some responsibility over the child."

"We did. Short story, they said no."

Both Ryo and Dee were visibly shocked. After a few seconds to recover, Dee responded with, "Shitheads. Never wanted to help that poor girl after all."

"Either way, they don't hold legal responsibility over her. She was found by us, she belongs to the State now. They don't decide her future. If they really wanted to pursue custody, they could, but they just didn't want to."

"I'm sure the orphanage will be an excellent place for her to live," Ryo said, forever the peace-keeper of the situation, "and right now, let's just hope the publicity we're running will give us a good lead to go off of. Right?"

"Absolutely, Randy," Rose stated in a tone of agreement, his eyes focused on Ryo in a way which Dee in particular wasn't appreciating. "I'll let you two off for now. I'm sure you have much more to accomplish, after all."

"Thank you, sir," Ryo said with a polite nod and smile, both him and Dee standing up. He made sure to let Dee pass first, just in case he decided to turn around and give the Commissioner a piece of his mind.

"One more thing, Randy, before you go?" Rose said suddenly, his tone perking up quite a bit.

Both Ryo and Dee whipped around to hear the news. "Yes, sir?"

"Congratulations on your child. I'm sure you…two…will be excellent parents."

"Thank you very much," Ryo responded quickly, pushing Dee, whose breath was erratically getting louder, out of the office before any blows could be exchanged.

Once in the pseudo-safety of the hallway, Dee wasted no time in saying, "Freakin' rat bastard Berkeley is always up to no good somehow or other, I swear on Jesus' name. I love how he only acknowledges my presence when he wants to yell at me!"

"Maybe you should try behaving yourself for once and see how that goes?" Ryo offered, knowing he wouldn't get through to the ranting Dee in a million years. Even despite their many misunderstandings at work, however, Ryo couldn't help but love Dee's challenges and his aggressiveness; he was definitely going to be good at disciplining the child throughout his or her life. Ryo knew in his heart that Dee wasn't such a bad person-or a bad parent-after all.

"I know! Let's make our baby the most hated person in the world. Let's name it Berkeley Bikky!"

"You are riding in the trunk when we go home!"

* * *

"Oh, I love this one," JJ said to himself as the opening credits for yet another episode of Sex and the City began to play on his medium-sized television, set on top of a crisp white television stand he had bought from Ikea. It was the episode when Charlotte finally becomes pregnant, but miscarries shortly after and then channels her inner Elizabeth Taylor to gain back her confidence. With a romantic sigh, JJ watched on as he wished he could live a perfect New York life like the women and men in Carrie Bradshaw's New York.

Suddenly interrupted by a tang for sweets that settled on his tongue and melted in his mind, JJ stood and retreated to his chromatic refrigerator, where he predicted a pint of ice cream was being held captive. He was, unfortunately, incorrect-no Strawberry Swirl ice cream was to be found. Sighing again, this time in defeat, he rubbed his stomach instinctively, racking his brain for other food options.

And that's when he noticed it. For the first time, he could feel the beginning, the burgeoning of a tiny swell below his navel. Something was growing inside there.

Rushing to his carefully placed mirror, which was stationed right next to the front door as a way to check yourself before leaving, JJ stared into it for a few seconds, focusing on his stomach. From the outside, he certainly didn't look pregnant. He wasn't overly tired, his hair and nails had shown no sign of regenerating, his skin was no more dewy than it usually was, and most importantly, there was no bump to be seen.

But as soon as he lifted up his shirt, there it was. It was so small, you actually would have to know what you were looking for if JJ had just randomly pulled up his shirt in front of you. The new life was starting to make its presence in his world, little by little.

JJ smiled sadly, even giggling a bit. Right now it was cute. Surely in two months, when he was fat and none of his starchy shirts or work pants fit, it would be a different story. But for right now, the best way to describe it was cute. Barely there, only seen to the eye of the beholder. Cute.

JJ's thoughts were interrupted by the rapping on his door all of the sudden, which caused him to drop his shirt and straighten out his clothes. He peered through the peephole with a certain curiosity before cracking a smile, and opened it to see Drake standing in front of him, clutching onto a brown grocery bag with ease.

"Drakey! Come on in!" JJ chirped invitingly, stepping aside as Drake meandered inside, kicking off his boots and pushing them to the side of the door.

"I figured you could use some company after today, so I brought some ice cream," Drake said with a half-smile, unveiling a tub of Strawberry Swirl ice cream. JJ's eyes lit up like Christmas lights at the sight of the creamy dessert he had so desired.

"Aww, thank you! How did you know I was out of ice cream?" JJ told him, taking the carton out of his hands and strutting back over to his kitchen to retrieve a bowl. "I mean, I would offer you some too, but I know you're not really fond of fruit…"

"Don't worry, I bought myself some Pecan Truffle," Drake replied as he joined JJ in the kitchen, pulling another carton out of the bag. "I got the good stuff for myself."

Crinkling his nose, JJ set two bowls on the counter and watched Drake open the strange chocolate-nut concoction with a sour look. "How can you like that stuff? It smells and tastes terrible."

"How can you like fruit? It's just so sweet, and…natural!"

Rolling his eyes, JJ concentrated on scooping out perfect pink orbs of ice cream, while Drake licked the sides of the container's lid to get every last taste of the treat. Smirking to himself, JJ said, "Pecans are like, twice as disgusting."

"Oh, that is bullshit. Pecans are perfect. My mom makes the best pecan pie this side of the east coast," Drake boasted, a triumphant look plastered on his face.

"Well, you'll have to send me a piece sometime. I've never had a piece of pecan pie that tasted anything but crappy."

"You'll just have to try some when you come over for Thanksgiving then, I guess…"

JJ whipped around to look at Drake, who was avoiding eye contact, with his spoon still dangling from his lips. Pulling it out slowly, he finally said, "What? I don't recall ever being invited to that."

"Well, you are. As of about a few hours ago. Because I, uh, called her, and told her about the kid. And I swear to God, she went into cardiac arrest. I have heard my mother cry many times before, but never that loudly. She is so ecstatic I think she wants all of New Jersey to know. I'm pretty sure people across the bridge could hear her yelling in joy."

JJ's eyes widened again for a split second, but they weren't quite the same as the widened eyes he made for the ice cream. He appeared to be more concerned than happy. "I mean…do they really want me to go? What did she say about the fact that I'm a guy? Aren't your parents upset?"

"Jeez, for the guy who is like the most openly gay person I know, you just sound terrified right now. My mom was really unfazed. She just wants someone to get knocked up by me, regardless if they're a guy or a girl. I think she seriously wouldn't care if I knocked up a convict at this point. My dad didn't care either, he just said 'good for you.' My sister doesn't know yet, but I'm sure my mom will squeal to her before I get the chance."

JJ set the spoon into his ice cream dish and slowly began putting the lid back on the container. "I mean, if you want me to go, I'll go…"

"You mean, you mean, you mean," Drake said mockingly, a smile still on his face. He walked closer to JJ, his face softening as he noticed JJ wasn't getting any happier. "Listen JJ, I know you kinda had a crappy childhood, and your parents weren't really there for you, but my parents aren't like that. They were so close to my sister and I that it was annoying. In my house, it doesn't matter who are, if you walk in, you're family. They really do want to meet you and get to know you and care for you. And you know, I do too. I care, I promise. I don't want you to be alone."

JJ's eyes went wide again, and this time it was out of shock. Drake knew how he felt all along. Drake was the first person in his life to really know how he was feeling.

Smiling softly, JJ got closer to Drake and embraced him, snuggling his face into the collar of his coat, close to his neck. Observing carefully, JJ noted how Drake smelled like discount cologne and secondhand smoke. After Drake ruffled his hair softly, JJ giggled and wiped at the corner of his eyes, saying, "Stop it, you're going to make me cry."

Drake laughed back at him, his own tears being kept carefully in his eyes, trying hard not to release them. "Then I'll cry with you, okay?"

Neither of them went into a full-blown sob, but they each shed a single tear-JJ for the warmth he felt being able to have someone understand him, and Drake for the chill of slowly realizing that he was in love with JJ.

* * *

Author's Notes: Phew! Okay, fifteen pages on MS Word, I must stop myself! That was getting really sweet though. Drake, JJ, ice cream…that could've gotten dirty really quickly! Alas, I restrained myself. And Dee and Ryo…they are such a married couple. I don't know how Ryo puts up with Dee, I really don't.

A few quick side notes- Montefiore is the name of a hospital in the Bronx. Also, I have always seen JJ as a guy who would love Sex and the City, which was a popular TV show of the late 90s/early 2000s.

A little bit of Drake's family in this chapter…I didn't go into too much detail, but the Parkers will be back, so expect to see them again soon. I am sooo excited that finals week is over…now I can just write, write, write! Next chapter will be a little bit of case stuff, but it's mostly Dee/Ryo centric. See you next time! xx


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